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FOOTBALL,  TODAY  AND 
TOMORROW 

By  WILLIAM  W.  (Bill)  ROPER 

Princeton  1902 
Illustrated  from  Photographs 


DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 
New  York 


1928 


Copyright,  1927,  by 
Duffield  &  Company 
Second  edition,  1928. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 
by  The  Cornwall  Press 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I.    A  Football  Classic      ......  3 

II.    The  Training  of  a  Modern  Football 

Team   14 

III.  The  Quarterback  Carries  the  Mental 

Burden   33 

IV.  By   Their   Plays   Ye   Shall  Know 

Them   58 

V.    Between  the  Halves  in  a  Football 

Game   78 

The  Psychology  of  Football    ...  95 

VII.    Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Football  Player   .  107 

VIII.    The  Value  of  Football   128 

What's   Wrong   With  Professional 

Football?   139 

X.    The  Modern  Game  .    .    ,    .    .    ,    .  155 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The    last    Harvard-Princeton    football  game, 
Bridges,  of  Princeton,  carrying  the 


Facing 
Page 

Beattie,  Princeton  back,  breaking  through  the 

Chicago  line  for  a  clear  gain  10 

Walker  of  Stanford  running  with  the  ball.  Wei- 

bel  of  Notre  Dame  hot  after  him   ....  24 

Dan  Caulkins,  Princeton's  able  field  general, 
scoring  first  touchdown  against  Yale  in 
1926  game    ...........  48 

Stanford-California  game,  witnessed  by  80,000 

people  68 

The  Army  and  Navy  struggling  in  the  mud  and 

rain  of  the  1923  game  at  the  Polo  grounds  86 

"Red"  Grange  104 

What's  wrong  with  Professional  Football?    .    .  142 

McPhail  of  Dartmouth,  aided  by  perfect  inter- 
ference, ripping  off  a  gain  in  Harvard 
game,  1926  ...........  160 

Dixon  of  California  tackled  by  flying  Washing- 
ton end  174 


FOOTBALL 
Today  and  Tomorrow 


/ 


FOOTBALL,  TODAY  AND 
TOMORROW 


Chapter  I 

A  FOOTBALL  CLASSIC 

TT  was  not  mere  football,  that  whirlwind  finish 
of  Princeton  against  Chicago  in  the  memo- 
rable intersectional  game  of  1922 — something 
more  compelling  and  blood-stirring;  football 
drama  exemplified  in  the  last  mad,  wild  twelve 
minutes  of  play  which  left  the  spectators  limp 
and  voiceless. 

Chicago  held  a  lead  of  two  touchdowns  in  the 
final  quarter  and,  to  the  casual  spectator,  had 
the  game  sewed  up  tight.  Then,  like  a  bolt  from 
the  blue,  Princeton  unleashed  a  daring,  insolent 
offense  into  which  enough  spectacularly  thrilling 
football  for  twenty  games  was  packed. 

During  the  first  period,  the  Tigers  were  weak 
in  spots,  brilliant  at  intervals,  but  lacking  in  driv- 
ing power  and  a  sustained  defense.  The  big 
Maroon  backs  battered  and  tore  the  Princeton 


3- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


line  to  shreds.  The  Easterners  fought  stub- 
bornly, but  without  avail. 

The  first  time  Princeton  had  ever  played  in 
the  West,  enthusiasm  was  at  a  high  point  when 
the  team  reached  Chicago  the  day  before  the 
game.  Alonzo  Stagg,  the  Chicago  coach,  and 
one  of  the  finest  sportsmen  I  have  ever  met, 
greeted  us  at  the  station,  told  us  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  our  squad  to  practice  at  the 
Stadium  that  afternoon. 

The  Princeton  players  reflected  the  growing 
excitement  in  the  game  as  they  wandered  over 
the  excellent  playing  field.  I  have  never  seen 
a  better  conditioned  field — almost  as  smooth  as 
the  putting  green  of  a  golf  course.  The  boys 
were  particularly  enthusiastic  about  the  springy 
turf.   The  backs  said  it  was  superb  for  running. 

Our  courteous  hosts  informed  us  that  every 
seat  had  been  sold  in  advance,  that  forty  thou- 
sand people  would  be  crowded  into  the  stands, 
with  one  hundred  thousand  clamoring  for  admit- 
tance. 

"Yes  sir,"  bemoaned  the  Chicago  manager,  "I 
could  have  sold  200,000  seats.  I've  never  heard 
of  such  a  demand  to  see  a  football  game." 

Back  at  our  hotel,  where  many  of  the  visitors 

4- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


John  Thomas,  with  his  brother  Harry,  and 
Jim  Pyott,  ripped  the  Tiger  line  wide  open  and 
paraded  sixty  yards  in  the  first  quarter  for  a 
touchdown.  They  found  our  tackles  easy  marks. 

Swiftly  Chicago  struck  at  them  again  and 
again  in  the  second  quarter — and  always  with  the 
same  result.  Again  they  marched  through  for  a 
touchdown.  So  did  Princeton — a  long,  beautiful 
pass  followed  by  four  thrusts  at  the  line  and  one 
of  our  backs  tumbled  over  the  goal  line  for  our 
first  blood. 

In  the  third  quarter,  the  Chicago  backs 
ploughed  and  hammered  their  way  through  for 
a  third  touchdown.  Still  the  Princeton  team 
strove  valiantly  but  in  vain  to  turn  back  the 
Maroon  tide  which  rolled  against  them. 

With  the  western  sun  slanted  across  the 
Stadium,  and  the  score  18-7  against  them,  the 
Tigers  were  still  fighting  back,  courageous  as 
before,  unconvinced  that  defeat  had  overtaken 
them,  hoping  somehow,  to  break  clear  of  the  re- 
lentless Chicago  defense  and  retrieve  the  day  as 
Princeton  teams  had  done  on  many  another  field. 

After  all,  Princeton  could  not  well  afford  to 
lose  to  Chicago.  This  was  listed  as  the  last  inter- 
sectional  game  for  some  time  and  there  was  at 
6. 


A  Football  Classic 


had  obtained  rooms,  the  old  colored  waiter  at  our 
table  commented: 

"Boss,"  he  said,  wide-eyed,  "Ah  ain't  seen  so 
much  excitement  in  Chicago  since  Coln'l  Roose- 
velt brought  his  Progressive  Party  out  here !" 

As  the  time  for  the  game  approached,  excite- 
ment was  at  a  fever  heat  yet  for  all  that,  the 
spirit  of  friendship  between  the  two  teams  and 
their  supporters  was  never  lost.  While  the  win- 
ning of  the  game  was  a  vital  thing  a  spirit  of 
friendly  rivalry  was  manifested  in  the  attitude 
of  the  two  teams  on  the  field. 

Chicago  was  about  to  match  brain  and  brawn 
with  Princeton.  The  West  would  tourney  with 
the  East  in  a  test  of  skill  and  courage.  To  every 
Princeton  player  this  invasion  into  a  far  country 
was  an  adventure  colored  with  romance. 

The  game  had  no  more  than  begun  when  we 
realized  that  our  Princeton  eleven  had  never 
battered  itself  against  a  forward  line  like  Stagg's 
Maroon  phalanx.  It  was  massive  and  yet 
mobile. 

Against  it  the  initial  assaults  of  our  backs  were 
futile.  We  gained  very  little  ground  while  the 
powerful  Maroon  backs,  when  they  swung  into 
action,  moved  as  one  man,  with  the  Princeton 
line  reeling  before  them. 


5- 


A  Football  Classic 


stake  the  supremacy  of  the  East  or  West  on  the 
white-ribbed  gridiron. 

This  extraordinary  Princeton  team,  which  was 
never  to  know  defeat  and  magnificent  in  the  role 
of  an  underdog,  felt  no  trepidation  in  undertak- 
ing the  daring,  hair-raising  plan  of  attack  filter- 
ing through  the  mind  of  Johnny  Gorman,  the 
alert  little  quarterback. 

The  fighting  spirit  of  the  Tigers  was  superb. 
Every  man  was  imbued  with  the  idea  of  doing 
something  for  Princeton  and  not  for  self.  This 
spirit  is  something  I  have  always  tried  to  incul- 
cate and  I  honestly  believe  it  has  much  to  do  with 
winning  football. 

Just  that  morning,  at  a  coaches  meeting,  we 
decided  to  change  our  lineup,  substituting 
Charlie  Caldwell  for  Harvey  Emery  at  full  back 
and  saving  Emery  for  reserve  work.  I  thought 
it  fair  to  tell  Emery  and  when  I  did  he  gave  me 
an  answer  which  I  will  never  forget. 

"I  think  you  are  right,"  he  said.  "I  believe 
Caldwell  is  the  man  to  start.  He  has  been  going 
much  better  than  I  have." 

This  incident  exemplified  the  feeling  of  every 
player  and  showed  their  willingness  to  sink  one's 
individuality  for  the  good  of  the  team.  It  made 
little  difference  that  day  to  any  man  who  started ; 

7- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


everyone  was  interested  in  winning  from  Chi- 
cago. 

Up  in  the  stands,  we  all  knew,  were  a  multi- 
tude of  Princeton  supporters,  filling  the  aisles 
like  a  swirling  tide,  flowing  over  the  terraced 
rows  of  seats,  crowding  down  to  the  field  in  their 
determination  to  lend  vocal  and  moral  support 
to  the  Tigers. 

Gray-haired  Princeton  alumni  with  their 
families  who  had  waited  many  years  to  see  the 
Orange  and  Black  play  in  the  West.  .  .  . 
Younger  alumni  settled  in  the  great  open 
country  who  had  travelled  miles  to  see  their 
alma  mater  triumph  over  a  powerful  western 
team.  .  .  .  Mothers,  fathers  and  sweethearts  of 
the  men  down  on  the  field  caught  up  in  the  whirl 
of  big  game  excitement. 

Mr.  Gray,  president  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  had  called  off  a  Board  of  Directors 
meeting  scheduled  for  that  afternoon  in  Chicago 
in  order  to  see  his  son,  Howard,  the  Princeton 
end,  play  against  a  heralded  Chicago  team.  So 
far,  he  didn't  have  an  entirely  pleasant  time  of 
it  with  the  score  18-7. 

But  wait! 

Pyott,  the  Chicago  back,  opened  the  last 
quarter  with  a  smart  fifteen  yard  run.  Prince- 
8. 


A  Football  Classic 


ton  stiffened  on  her  own  forty  yard  line  and 
Chicago  kicked.  Johnny  Gorman,  who  played 
a  remarkable  game  all  afternoon,  caught  the 
pigskin  and  attempted  a  daring  back  pass  to 
Jack  Cleaves,  who  was  posted  wide,  but  the  pass 
was  thrown  forward,  making  it  illegal,  and 
Princeton  was  set  back  to  her  two  yard  line  on 
a  fifteen  yard  penalty. 

There  was  little  hope  for  the  Tiger  in  this  sit- 
uation. The  end  of  the  game  was  not  far  off  and 
it  was  a  time  for  desperate  methods.  From  the 
sidelines  I  could  see  Gorman  holding  a  hurried 
conference  with  Cleaves,  the  oldest  and  strongest 
man  in  our  back  field.  The  only  member  of  the 
team  who  played  against  Chicago  the  year  pre- 
vious in  the  Palmer  Stadium  when  we  were  de- 
feated 10-0. 

I  remembered  that  Gorman  and  Cleaves  had 
played  many  years  of  football  together.  They 
were  the  closest  of  friends,  had  gone  through 
Mercersburg  together,  and  in  their  school  days 
had  perfected  many  plays  on  their  own  initiative 
which  dazzled  their  opponents. 

Knowing  this,  and  seeing  no  chance  for 
Princeton  in  straight  football,  I  hoped  when  they 
lined  up  they  were  going  to  try  something  out  of 
the  beaten  path. 


9- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Gorman  called  for  a  kick  formation.  Cleaves 
dropped  back  as  if  to  punt  while  the  Chicago 
forwards  strained  at  their  mark  to  get  through, 
block  the  kick  and  score  another  touchdown. 

The  ball  was  passed  to  Cleaves,  standing  be- 
hind our  own  goal  posts.  But  instead  of  kicking 
Cleaves  hurled  a  long  forward  pass  into  the  out- 
stretched arms  of  little  Johnny  Gorman,  who 
was  running  at  top  speed  down  the  field.  Ma- 
roon jerseys  crowded  in  on  him,  overtook  him 
and  Gorman  crashed  to  earth  at  midfield.  The 
little  fellow  was  so  badly  shaken  up  he  had  to 
leave  the  game.  Princeton  supporters  were 
lifted  to  their  feet  and  familiar  Tiger  cheers 
rolled  down  on  the  wearied  players. 

Then  the  tide  turned  swiftly.  Princeton  got 
her  long  expected  break  and  knew  what  to  do 
with  it.  Chicago  next  got  the  ball  on  her  own 
forty-two  yard  line,  when  Princeton  was  forced 
to  kick.  King,  their  center,  was  injured  and 
Dawson  took  his  place.  On  the  first  play  he 
passed  inaccurately  to  Zorn,  the  ball  hitting  him 
on  the  knee  and  bounced  into  the  eager,  out- 
stretched arms  of  Howdy  Gray,  the  Princeton 
end,  who,  without  having  to  check  or  swerve  to 
take  it,  was  up  and  away  and  never  stopped  until 
he  crossed  the  Chicago  goal  line, 
10. 


A  Football  Classic 


The  score  was  18-14  with  six  minutes  of  play. 
The  fumble  and  touchdown  was  enough  for 
Princeton.  I  have  always  taught  my  boys  to 
play  for  the  breaks,  to  fight  hardest  and  think 
quickly  when  the  break  comes,  to  hammer  away 
and  sweep  the  opposition  off  their  feet  before 
they  know  what  it's  all  about. 

The  Princeton  team  siezed  their  opportunity 
and  rose  to  their  greatest  heights.  Chicago  had 
elected  to  kick.  When  we  received  the  ball,  Win- 
gate,  then  playing  quarterback  for  Princeton, 
had  already  put  a  fire  and  dash  into  his  signal 
calling  which  inspired  the  players  and  carried 
them  on  with  tremendous  confidence. 

Down  the  field  they  marched,  steadily,  tri- 
umphantly, with  a  brand  of  attack  that  was  ver- 
satile, resourceful  and  inspiring.  The  Chicago 
team  cracked.  They  seemed  to  lack  their 
former  power  and  resistence  as  our  backs  shot 
past  them  and  through  them  and  around  them. 
Princeton  played  magnificent  football  without 
the  semblance  of  a  mistake  and  in  a  series  of 
brilliant  dashes  gained  sixty  yards. 

The  ball  was  on  the  four  yard  line  and  it  was 
the  fourth  down.  A  few  minutes  of  play  re- 
mained. Here  was  our  chance  to  put  over  the 
winning  touchdown.    Crum,  a  reserve  halfback, 

n. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


sitting  on  the  bench  and  carried  away  by  the 
spirit  displayed  by  the  men  on  the  field,  grabbed 
my  arm. 

"Listen,  Bill,"  he  begged,  "I  can  score  this 
touchdown!  Put  me  in  there.  Please!" 
"Go  ahead." 

Crum  raced  out  on  the  field  and  on  the  next 
play  his  burley  form  knifed  through  the  Maroon 
defense  for  the  touchdown.  Score  21-18,  with 
Princeton  leading. 

Three  minutes  of  play  remained.  Chicago,  in 
the  shadow  of  defeat,  showed  a  flash  of  its  former 
power  and  cut  loose  with  a  nerve-racking  series 
of  brilliantly  executed  passes,  intermingled  with 
line  plays  which  swept  through  the  Princeton 
team  and  placed  the  ball  on  the  one  yard  line  in 
two  minutes  and  thirty  seconds  of  play. 

On  this  sweep  the  Chicago  team  completed 
four  forward  passes,  the  last  one,  Pyott  to  Stroh- 
meir,  for  twenty-two  yards.  Then  with  the  ball 
in  the  shadow  of  the  Princeton  goal,  they  sud- 
denly changed  the  tactics  of  their  irresistable  at- 
tack and  used  a  drive  at  the  center  of  our  line. 

Here  was  the  ball  on  our  one  yard  line,  thirty 
seconds  to  play,  the  fourth  down,  and  the  inter- 
sectional  game  at  stake. 

Princeton  made  a  last,  gallant  stand.  Into 


12. 


A  Football  Classic 


the  massed  Tiger  defense  plunged  John  Thomas. 
Princeton  defended  magnificently.    The  great 
Maroon  back  hit  his  head  against  a  stonewall. 
It  was  our  ball! 

Cleaves  punted  out  of  danger  and  then  the 
game  ended  with  everyone  ragged  and  nerveless 
from  excitement.  First  to  congratulate  us  was 
Alonzo  Stagg.  His  voice  seemed  hoarse  with 
fatigue — and  so  was  mine.  It  was  the  most 
thrilling,  the  most  spectacular  game  of  football 
I  have  ever  seen  or  ever  hope  to  see  again. 


*3- 


Chapter  II 

THE  TRAINING  OF  &  MODERN 
FOOTBALL  TEAM 

npHE  Princeton  eleven  which  defeated  Chi- 
cago  and  then  surprised  the  football  world 
by  winning  from  Yale  and  Harvard  in  1922, 
was  selected,  trained  and  developed  to  meet  the 
changed  requirements  of  the  modern  game. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  when  I  played  foot- 
ball, the  development  and  selection  of  the  varsity 
was  largely  a  survival  of  the  toughest,  the  big- 
gest and  strongest  men. 

Today  the  fastest,  the  brainiest  and  best  con- 
ditioned players  make  up  the  eleven.  In  my  day 
emphasis  was  on  weight  and  strength;  today  it 
is  on  speed  and  brains. 

Just  how  far  we  have  advanced  in  the  training 
of  a  modern  football  team  is  illustrated  by  a 
comparison  with  the  methods  employed  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago. 

There  was  a  very  common  error  in  the  old  days 
that  football  was  merely  a  survival  of  the  tough- 


14. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


est,  in  that  the  idea  of  the  hardening  process  of 
the  early  season  consisted  mainly  of  encouraging 
severe  bodily  tests  which  were  supposed  to  elimi- 
nate the  weaker  candidates  and  strengthen  the 
more  rugged.  They  accomplished  the  first  half 
of  their  aim  very  thoroughly  and  a  week  or  two 
of  practice  used  to  be  enough  to  drive  all  the 
light  men  to  the  sidelines  or  infirmary,  along 
with  a  fair  percentage  of  the  .heavy  fellows. 

This  practice  was  less  fatal  in  those  days  when 
every  coach  had  to  get  weight,  and  a  fast  light 
man  had  to  be  extraordinarily  good  to  get  much 
consideration,  even  if  he  managed  to  survive  the 
clashes  of  those  opening  scrimmages. 

The  modern  game  needs  faster  men  than  did 
the  old,  and  the  early  work  must  be  planned  so 
that  none  of  them  shall  be  hurt  or  slowed  up  by 
any  needless  accident. 

Some  coaches  believe  in  an  extended  prelimi- 
nary season  lasting  at  least  a  month.  They  be- 
lieve it  necessary  to  enable  the  players  to  get  into 
shape  under  expert  supervision.  Several  colleges 
have  established  training  camps  where  the  entire 
squad  spends  several  weeks  before  the  opening 
of  the  season. 

The  Princeton- Yale  and  the  Western  Confer- 
ence agreements  provide  that  football  practice 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


shall  not  Start  until  September  15th,  Per- 
sonally, I  do  not  believe  in  a  long  preliminary- 
season.  Unless  the  practice  sessions  are  held  in 
a  particularly  invigorating  climate  the  first  two 
weeks  of  September  are  apt  to  be  the  hottest  of 
the  entire  summer.  Nothing  takes  the  life  out  of 
a  football  player  more  than  the  heat.  Football 
was  never  intended  to  be  a  hot-weather  game. 

Again,  college  athletics  should  be  confined  as 
much  as  possible  to  the  periods  during  which 
college  is  actually  in  session.  Gathering  to- 
gether a  squad  of  fifty  or  sixty  prospective  foot- 
ball candidates  in  mid-summer  cannot  but  create 
a  wrong  impression  in  the  minds  of  the  players 
and  public.  This  practice  often  works  a  real 
hardship  on  the  players  themselves.  A  great 
many  of  them  depend  on  working  at  jobs  during 
the  summer  months  and  need  every  penny  they 
can  earn  to  pay  part  of  their  college  expenses. 

I  do  not  mean  to  minimize  the  importance  of 
physical  condition  for,  after  all,  if  the  football 
candidate  does  not  keep  in  shape  during  the 
summer  months  he  will  be  of  little  use  in  the  fall. 
But  surely  the  game  holds  sufficient  appeal  to 
let  the  players  take  care  of  themselves. 

Physical  condition  wins  more  football  games 
than  any  single  factor.  I  should  much  prefer  to 

16. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


see  a  team  go  into  the  big  games  on  its  toes 
mentally  and  physically,  even  if  it  did  so  at  the 
expense  of  some  lack  of  football  knowledge. 

One  of  the  greatest  football  teams  in  the  his- 
tory of  Princeton,  if  not  the  greatest,  rose  to 
the  supreme  heights  of  glory,  not  so  much  on 
superior  individual  ability  but  because  of  superb 
physical  condition  maintained  throughout  the 
season. 

Only  one  man  on  the  squad  of  that  great  1925 
team  was  handicapped  by  injuries.  Charlie 
Weeks,  a  substitute,  slipped  and  fell  during  prac- 
tice on  a  rainy  afternoon  and  sprained  his  ankle. 

The  modern  football  team  puts  in  sixty-four 
hours  of  actual  football  practice  during  the 
season;  two  hours  a  day  for  four  days  a  week 
over  approximately  eight  weeks.  The  coaches 
have  to  make  every  minute  count  to  get  the  best 
results. 

It  is  a  stark  impossibility  to  develop  any  foot- 
ball squad  to  the  high  degree  of  efficiency  neces- 
sary to  compete  successfully  in  the  present 
modern  game  unless  every  member  of  the  squad 
starts  the  season  in  first  class  physical  condition. 

Because  the  members  of  the  1925  squad  re- 
ported in  splendid  condition,  they  outdid  them- 

*7- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


selves  all  season.  They  romped  through  a  splen- 
did Yale  team  for  a  25-12  score  and  defeated 
Harvard  36-0. 

Football  is  a  hard,  rough  game,  and  you  must 
be  in  first  class  physical  condition  to  play  it 
safely. 

A  month  before  our  training  season  started 
we  wrote  to  each  player,  asking  him  to  stop 
smoking,  to  be  in  bed  at  half-past  ten  every 
night,  not  to  eat  between  meals,  to  go  through 
setting  up  exercises  morning  and  evening,  and 
to  do  some  sprints  and  running  each  day.  The 
players  did  as  we  asked — we  use  the  honor 
system  of  training  at  Princeton — and  they  re- 
ported in  excellent  shape.  After  they  reported 
we  didn't  ask  them  to  do  anything  the  coaches' 
wouldn't  do.  We  trained  with  the  men. 

During  the  first  days  of  practice  the  men  re- 
ceived a  thorough  training  in  grass  drills,  that  is, 
falling  on  the  ground  from  all  angles  to  aid  the 
blood  circulation  and  harden  the  muscles. 

There  was  no  falling  on  the  ball — one  of  the 
commonest  methods  of  hardening  men  in  the  old 
days  and  stubbornly  clung  to  even  in  this  en- 
lightened day.  When  I  played  football  every 
team  in  the  country  spent  more  of  its  first  few 
days  in  this  particular  exercise  than  anything 

18. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


else.  One  reason  for  it  probably  lay  in  the  beau- 
tiful ease  with  which  any  volunteer  coach  with 
a  leathern  lung  and  an  uninventive  brain,  could 
put  the  neophyte  through  it,  bawling  lustily  at 
him  as  his  tender-skinned  body  slid  over  the  rasp- 
ing turf.  Perhaps  it  was  fun,  too,  for  those  who 
didn't  have  to  do  it.  It  amused  the  bleachers  to 
see  the  antics  of  the  beginners,  and  there  was 
some  pleasure  in  it  for  those  who  could  cover  the 
ball  like  a  hen  and  a  lonesome  chicken,  but  I 
can  see  no  other  excuse  for  it,  then  or  now. 

At  best,  this  falling  on  the  ball  is  a  useless 
practice  and  a  feat  which  was  never  good  foot- 
ball and  is  now  so  directly  opposed  to  sound 
tactics  that  it  is  almost  comic.  At  its  worst,  it 
is  among  the  most  dangerous  forms  of  early 
season  training.  Very  few  men  came  through 
it  without  losing  large  areas  of  skin  and  acquir- 
ing choice  collections  of  blue  bruises  where 
those  bruises  hurt  most.  For  that  matter  its 
damage  was  not  confined  to  the  early  season.  I 
remember  vividly  the  tense  minutes  before  one 
of  the  Yale-Princeton  games  when  the  set 
custom  called  for  each  team  to  indulge  in  an  ex- 
hibition of  its  prowess  at  this  art  of  falling  on 
the  ball  while  the  packed  stand  thundered  with 
applause.    They  were  beautiful  acrobatics,  too, 


19. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


and  on  this  occasion  one  of  the  best  men  on  the 
Princeton  team,  making  a  particularly  vicious 
stab  at  a  rolling  ball,  got  up  with  a  broken  collar 
bone  and  proceeded  to  watch  his  team  from  the 
sidelines  while  it  took  a  sound  licking,  perhaps 
for  the  want  of  him. 

I  may  as  well  confess  that  it  took  me  twenty- 
five  years  to  see  the  light  and  this  came  near  cost- 
ing me  the  services  of  a  very  necessary  player  for 
the  whole  of  the  1919  season,  who  dislocated  his 
shoulder — and  it  wasn't  a  paper-weight  shoulder 
either — by  trying  to  fall  on  the  ball  under  my 
personal  direction.  This  settled  the  matter  for 
me,  but  if  I  had  needed  any  final  persuasion  I 
got  it  later,  when  I  watched  three  team  mates 
struggling  among  themselves  to  fall  on  a  ball  in 
a  certain  big  game  with  no  opponent  anywhere 
near  and  a  clear  field  to  the  goal  before  them. 
Any  one  of  those  men  could  have  counted  three 
and  then  picked  up  the  ball  and  scored  with  it. 

This  subject  of  falling  on  the  ball  deserves  an 
excursion  from  the  main  theme  and  I  mean  to 
hammer  it  home.  I  remember  that  Herman 
Suter  ran  ninety-five  yards  against  Harvard  in 
1895,  with  a  ball  on  which  he  had  conspicuously 
refrained  from  falling;  that  Arthur  Poe  scored 
the  winning  touchdown  against  Yale  in  1898 

20. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


under  the  same  circumstances;  that  John  De 
Witt  repeated  the  performance,  also  against 
Yale,  in  1903,  and  that  Ed.  Booth  did  it  again  in 
1907  and  Sam  White  against  both  Yale  and 
Harvard  in  1911,  while  Scheerer's  run  is  still 
talked  about — and  in  this  book  there  is  the  story 
of  Howdy  Gray  picking  up  a  fumble  out  in  Chi- 
cago and  running  for  a  touchdown  which  changed 
the  whole  psychology  of  the  Princeton  team. 

And  I  can  recall  falling  on  a  ball  myself,  in 
the  Yale-Princeton  game  of  1899,  which  luckily 
did  not  cost  us  the  game  because  we  were  able  to 
gain  twenty-five  yards  afterwards  and  Arthur 
Poe  was  equal  to  the  emergency  with  his  field- 
goal  in  the  last  minute  of  play.  This  particular 
instance  is  particularly  vivid  because  I  could 
have  picked  up  the  ball  more  easily  than  I  fell 
on  it  and  I  could  certainly  have  made  those 
twenty-five  yards  and  perhaps  a  touchdown. 

I  distinctly  remember  that  as  I  lay  on  the  ball 
it  seemed  to  be  a  full  minute  at  least  before  any- 
body dropped  on  me.  Probably  it  was  only  a 
few  seconds  in  actual  fact. 

Very  strongly  am  I  against  this  falling  on  the 
ball  in  early  season  practice  when  there  is  so 
much  more  important  work  to  be  accomplished. 

21. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Running  can  be  beautifully  combined  with 
other  drill  which  is  interesting  in  itself  and  highly- 
necessary  in  the  development  of  the  team. 

I  know  of  no  more  important  practice  than 
passing  and  catching  the  ball.  It  is  mighty  good 
fun,  too.  We  have  the  backs  and  ends  lined  up 
in  two  squads  with  a  passer  on  each  side.  At  the 
very  start  of  our  work  a  rivalry  is  stirred  up  be- 
tween the  opposing  squads  by  keeping  an  ac- 
curate count  of  the  missed  passes  by  each  player. 
Everyone  tries  to  get  through  this  practice  with- 
out missing  a  thrown  pass. 

The  pass  receiver  must  be  shown  how  to  catch 
the  ball,  with  arms  relaxed  at  the  elbows.  He 
should  never  fight  the  ball,  but  give  with  it  in  the 
manner  of  a  baseball  fielder  catching  a  high  fly. 
Pick  out  a  passer  who  can  hurl  a  soft  ball.  They 
are  twice  as  easy  to  catch.  The  pass  receiver 
should  never  run  at  full  speed  the  entire  route. 
He  should  be  taught  to  save  for  the  final  burst 
of  speed  in  the  last  few  yards.  The  passer  should 
be  instructed  to  throw  the  ball  a  trifle  ahead  of 
the  receiver. 

This  running  and  catching  of  the  ball  is  real 
sport,  as  is  the  catching  of  punts  and  running 
them  back.  The  whole  squad  can  indulge  in  this 
practice  of  charging  down  toward  the  catcher, 

22. 


Training  a  Modem  Team 


without,  of  course,  attempting  a  tackle  at  this 
stage  of  the  work. 

We  spend  a  half  an  hour  a  day  catching 
passes.  This  practice  is  held  every  day  of  the 
season  and  as  a  result  the  players  seldom  if  ever 
muff  a  pass  in  a  game. 

In  the  early  days  of  training,  the  backfield  and 
linemen  are  separated  and  later  moulded  to- 
gether as  a  team,  after  they  have  mastered  the 
fundamentals  of  their  position. 

The  first  scrimmage  of  the  1925  team  was  held 
two  weeks  after  the  training  season  started. 
Each  man  stayed  in  the  game  for  about  ten 
minutes.  It  was  in  warm,  October  weather  and 
the  men  perspired  freely.  Few  men,  I  have 
found,  are  injured  when  they  are  properly 
warmed  up. 

There  were  only  two  scrimmages  before  the 
first  game.  A  few  plays  had  been  perfected  and 
used  in  these  early  scrimmages.  At  the  same 
time  the  coaches  were  weeding  out  the  men  until 
a  squad  of  thirty-three  men  composed  the  varsity 
squad.  Many  of  the  men  who  were  dropped 
were  assigned  to  an  assistant  coach  who  spent 
the  entire  fall  teaching  them  the  fundamentals, 
such  as  passing,  kicking,  drop-kicking  and  pick- 
ing up  the  ball. 

23. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 

Several  of  the  men  dropped  were  just  as  good 
football  players  as  those  retained  but  they  were 
not  in  such  splendid  physical  condition  and  could 
not  compete  with  the  flaming  spirits  who  had 
whipped  themselves  into  shape  earlier  in  the 
year.  The  dropping  of  these  poorly  conditioned 
men  lessened  the  probability  of  injuries  on  the 
varsity  squad. 

As  the  season  progressed,  we  concentrated 
more  than  ever  on  the  varsity  team,  having, 
usually,  one  day  of  scrimmage  a  week  until  mid- 
season;  then  one  week  with  two  days  of  scrim- 
mage ;  then  one  day  a  week  until  toward  the  end 
of  the  season,  when  we  may  or  may  not  have  a 
week  with  two  days  of  scrimmage. 

Scrimmaging  is  often  overdone,  and  more 
teams  are  overworked  than  underworked.  The 
worst  fault  a  coach  can  be  guilty  of  is  working 
his  men  to  death. 

The  highly  successful  Brown  eleven  of  1926, 
I  have  heard,  scarcely,  if  ever,  scrimmaged  dur- 
ing the  middle  or  toward  the  end  of  the  season. 
And  Notre  Dame  is  said  to  scrimmage  not  more 
than  one  day  a  week  during  the  playing  season. 

A  team  is  not  brought  up  to  a  final  point  of 
perfection  until  the  end  of  the  season.  A  general 
let  down  is  permitted  before  the  final  spurt.  At 

24. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


Princeton  this  let  down  comes  two  weeks  before 
the  big  games  of  the  year.  The  squad  is  given 
two  full  days  of  rest  and  told  to  get  their  minds 
off  the  game.  This  short  vacation  works  wonders 
with  the  men  for  the  strain  of  daily  football  is 
beginning  to  tell  and  some  are  liable  to  get  "fed 
up"  on  the  sport. 

Monday  is  the  easiest  day  of  the  week.  We 
review  the  game  of  the  previous  Saturday  and 
point  out  our  mistakes.  Then  the  players  do  a 
little  limbering-up  work.  Tuesday  is  devoted  to 
hard  individual  work  and  to  signal  practice. 
Wednesday  is  scrimmage  day.  There  is  warm- 
ing-up work  and  a  half  hour  of  scrimmage. 
Thursday  is  devoted  to  polishing  up  individual 
work  and  correcting  faults  noted  in  scrimmage. 
There  also  is  a  long  signal  drill.  Friday  is  an- 
other easy  day — just  light  work  lasting  not  more 
than  an  hour. 

About  the  middle  of  each  season  we  have  a 
week  of  hard,  hammer-and-tongs,  blood-and-iron 
scrimmage  work  in  which  players  often  win  their 
positions.  It  is  in  this  week  that  a  winning  foot- 
ball team  is  sometimes  made. 

The  weight  of  our  players  is  watched  very 
closely.  Each  man  is  weighed  every  day,  and 
a  record  kept.   There  is  something  wrong  if,  by 


25. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Monday  or  Tuesday,  a  player  has  not  regained 
the  weight  lost  in  Saturday's  game. 

The  trainer  of  a  football  team  is  a  very  im- 
portant cog  in  the  machine.  We  are  very  for- 
tunate at  Princeton  in  having  one  of  the  best 
conditioners  of  men  in  the  country — Keene  Fitz- 
patrick. 

When  a  fine  player  is  carried  to  the  sidelines 
injured  it  is  indeed  a  relief  to  know  that  he  will 
get  the  best  possible  care  and  attention. 

The  rights  of  the  trainer  are  to  be  respected. 
I  remember  many  instances  in  the  old  days  when 
it  had  been  solemnly  agreed  between  the  coach 
and  trainer  that  a  time  limit  should  be  set  on  the 
days's  practice.  Not  infrequently  the  coach 
overruled  the  trainer's  call  for  time,  to  put  "just 
five  more  minutes"  on  some  individual  play  he 
wanted  to  perfect.  These  five  minutes  were 
nearly  always  costly,  for  it  is  a  provable  fact 
that  men  are  hurt  far  more  easily  when  they  are 
tired  than  when  they  are  fresh.  Time  after  time 
these  few  extra  minutes  of  scrimmage  cost  teams 
the  services  of  their  most  valuable  men. 

Often  the  observing  eye  of  Fitzpatrick  has 
detected  the  drawn  faces  and  lagging  step  of  a 
wearied  player.  Immediately,  after  consulting 
one  of  the  coaches,  Keene  approached  the  man. 

26. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


"Better  take  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  off.  Get 
under  the  showers  and  make  sure  you  get  a  good 
night's  rest.  Not  less  than  nine  hours,"  and  an- 
other probable  football  injury  was  averted. 

The  old  custom  of  football  players  appearing 
on  the  field  under  a  mass  of  padding  is  now  be- 
coming obsolete.  Of  course  the  men  are  heavily 
padded  in  the  early  season  practice  before  the 
muscles  are  hardened,  but  as  the  season  pro- 
gresses, the  excess  padding  is  removed  and  dis- 
carded. Pads  retard  speed,  and  speed  is  king  in 
modern  football. 

Princeton  teams  of  today  go  into  the  big  games 
with  practically  no  padding,  except  on  the 
shoulders.  At  that  stage  of  development  the  men 
should  be  so  conditioned  that  the  only  time  they 
are  subject  to  injury  is  when  they  are  hit  very 
hard  while  they  are  in  motion.  The  slight  bruises 
body  pads  would  prevent  are  not  enough  to 
justify  their  use. 

The  difference  between  the  old  and  new  type 
of  football  affects  almost  every  detail  of  training 
routine,  even  down  to  the  diet  of  the  players. 
The  old  idea  was  to  feed  the  players  red  meat 
and  all  they  could  swallow  of  it.  The  best 
modern  methods  agree  that  the  right  diet  is  the 
wholesome,  moderate,  well-balanced  rations  $o 


27. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


which  the  men  are  or  should  be  accustomed  the 
year  around.  Today  there  is  none  of  the  old 
craze  for  putting  on  weight  at  the  expense  of 
overburdening  even  a  boy's  capacity  for  di- 
gestion. 

I'm  not  a  crank  on  diet.  Our  players  eat  ac- 
customed, healthful  food,  but  we  ask  them  to 
eat  slowly  and  not  to  overeat.  We  also  have 
them  lie  down  for  a  half  hour  before  dinner,  and 
find  that  it  does  them  good.  Keene  Fitzpatrick 
suggested  that  each  man  eat  an  apple  every  day, 
that  the  one  big  meal  of  the  day  be  in  the  evening, 
an  hour  at  least  after  the  close  of  practice;  that 
coffee,  which  stimulates  the  heart  action,  be  re- 
placed by  tea  as  a  beverage. 

It  appals  me  to  see  the  way  some  teams  are 
stuffed  with  food  an  hour  or  so  before  they  are 
sent  out  on  the  field. 

Modern  college  laws  have  required  a  little 
more  from  the  athlete  than  from  the  other  stu- 
dent, both  as  regards  his  conduct  and  study.  The 
athlete,  even  where  faculty  control  is  conspicu- 
ously benevolent,  is  always  under  observation 
and  usually  under  suspicion.  He  is  something 
like  the  minister's  son  in  that  when  he  slips  every- 
body knows  it  and  many  people  gladly  say:  "I 
told  you  so."   The  athlete  cannot  play  unless  he 

28. 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


keeps  out  of  trouble  and  is  listed  well  up  in  his 
class.  He  is  required  to  keep  his  body  and  mind 
clean  not  only  for  the  limited  period  of  football 
season,  but  the  year  around. 

There  is  one  phase  of  the  training  of  a  modern 
football  team  which  I  believe  should  be  abolished 
— Spring  practice.  During  the  past  three  years 
we  have  experimented  with  it  and  have  found 
the  benefits  of  such  training  so  insignificant  in 
comparison  with  the  obvious  disadvantages  that 
I  believe  it  will  soon  be  abandoned. 

Football  is  an  autumnal  sport.  It  should  be 
restricted  to  the  fall.  In  the  spring  the  men  of 
varsity  calibre  are  usually  engaged  in  another 
form  of  sport — baseball,  track,  lacrosse  or  crew. 
At  best,  spring  training  is  a  haphazard,  un- 
organized affair.  Scrimmage  for  us  is  impossible 
and  the  probability  of  severe  injuries  not  worth 
the  risk. 

Conditions  vary  in  the  different  institutions, 
however.  At  Notre  Dame,  I  am  told,  Knute 
Rockne  holds  an  extended  session  of  six  weeks' 
duration  and  in  this  spring  workout  manages  to 
get  in  a  lot  of  scrimmage  work.  "Hurry  Up" 
Yost  devotes  considerable  time  to  spring  prac- 
tice at  Michigan.   He  stresses  passing  and  kick- 


29. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


ing  with  a  long  drill  on  fundamentals.  But 
scrimmage  is  rarely  attempted. 

This  past  spring  we  supplemented  our  spring 
work  with  a  course  in  running.  Keene  Fitz- 
patrick,  our  trainer,  directed  this  work  three  days 
a  week.  Apparently  we  have  gotten  more  good 
out  of  this  running  exercise  than  any  other  train- 
ing outside  the  regular  football  season. 

It  is  remarkable  how  few  boys  really  know 
how  to  run.  And  running  is  the  basis  of  football. 
Today  the  game  is  first  and  last  a  test  of  speed. 
Last  fall  I  had  on  the  squad  three  men  who  were 
positively  slow  of  foot.  Keene  Fitzpatrick  took 
them  in  charge  this  past  winter  and  spring, 
worked  with  them,  and  speeded  the  men  up  to 
a  marked  degree.  In  fact  you  wouldn't  know 
they  were  the  same  players. 

Spring  practice,  in  my  mind,  is  not  a  good 
thing  for  football.  It  tends  to  over-emphasize 
the  game,  takes  much  of  the  fun  out  of  it  for 
the  players  by  making  it  a  grind,  and  as  a  method 
of  whipping  a  team  into  shape  it  is  unsatis- 
factory. All  a  coach  can  do  is  to  size  up  his 
squad,  make  some  tentative  plans  for  the  coming 
season  and  get  acquainted  with  the  new  men. 

Football  is  no  game  for  weaklings.  It  re- 
quires spartanlike  training.    The  hard,  aggres- 

30- 


Training  a  Modern  Team 


sive  modern  game  demands  that  we  drive  the 
boys  pretty  hard  during  the  limited  grind  of  the 
season.  But  no  matter  how  hard  we  work  them, 
no  more  than  two  hours  of  football  is  permitted 
in  one  day.  That's  one  football  rule  to  which 
there  is  no  exception.  We  do  all  our  football 
playing  down  on  the  field  and  forget  it  on  enter- 
ing the  training  house. 

If  I  chance  to  meet  a  player  downtown,  I 
don't  call  him  down  for  a  punt  he  fumbled  that 
afternoon,  or  put  him  through  an  examination 
on  football  tactics.  The  idea  of  having  your 
men  eat,  sleep  and  talk  football  might  work — 
but  not  at  Princeton. 

Football  is  merely  a  healthy  form  of  recreation 
indulged  in  by  the  men  engaged  in  securing  a 
college  education.  It  takes  two  hours  of  their 
day,  a  day  filled  with  the  one  hundred  and  one 
demands  on  the  modern  undergraduate  from  the 
social  and  scholastic  side  of  college  life.  The 
present  popularity  of  football,  we  believe,  is  de- 
served, but  rather  than  have  the  players  get  a 
distorted  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  game,  we 
would  have  them  forget  it  after  leaving  the  field. 

I've  read  a  lot  about  football  players  who  hate 
the  game,  but  as  far  as  I  know  we've  never  had 
one  of  them  at  Princeton.    I  shall  make  no  at- 

31- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


tempt  to  deny  that  there  are  some  parts  of  the 
training  and  practice  which  are  tedious  and  dis- 
agreeable, yet  the  healthy  competitive  spirit  of 
the  game,  the  companionship  and  association,  as 
well  as  the  thrill  of  the  game  itself  far  transcend 
any  of  its  unpleasant  features.  I  think  there  are 
boys  who  revel  in  football  and  who,  when  the 
season  is  over,  feel  badly  about  it.  In  fact,  I 
think  most  of  the  players  are  really  sorry  when 
the  season  is  over. 


3*. 


Chapter  III 

THE  QUARTERBACK  CARRIES  THE 
MENTAL  BURDEN 

POINDING  the  right  player  for  the  position 
of  quarterback,  and  teaching  him  general- 
ship, is  the  most  difficult  job  I  have  to  tackle  in 
most  seasons. 

After  twenty-five  years  of  observing  football 
players,  I  have  listed  several  qualities,  which, 
blended  together,  make  the  ideal  quarterback. 

He  must  have  courage  and  brains.  He  must 
be  able  to  think  fast  and  straight.  He  must  have 
initiative  and  lots  of  it.  According  to  the  dic- 
tionary, initiative  is  the  first  move ;  the  power  of 
initiating;  ability  for  original  conception  and  in- 
dependent action. 

And  the  quarterback  must  have  a  stirring, 
ringing  voice  that  has  the  same  quality  as  music 
to  the  dancer;  it  is  the  life  blood  of  a  football 
team. 

Mai  Logan,  the  Harvard  quarterback,  had 
this  compelling  quality  in  his  voice.    "As  we 


33- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


reached  midfleld,"  said  Tacks  Hardwick,  "Lo- 
gan's voice  in  calling  signals  sounded  at  a  steady, 
even  beat.  It  was  like  the  smooth  hum  of  a 
motor.  But  as  we  came  within  striking  distance 
of  the  goal  it  suddenly  turned  to  a  sharp,  staccato 
effect,  where  one  could  feel  the  hair  lifting  along 
the  back  of  the  head.  Logan's  voice  at  this  point 
was  a  big  factor  in  fairly  driving  the  team  for- 
ward. It  had  an  inspirational  effect  beyond  all 
belief." 

A  real  quarterback  must  possess  brains, 
courage,  initiative  and  a  compelling  voice. 
Blessed  indeed  is  the  coach  who  is  alloted  such  a 
man  in  his  football  squad. 

Dan  Caulkins,  the  Princeton  quarterback,  was 
such  a  jewel.  In  1926  the  Princeton  eleven 
stumbled  along  through  a  disasterous  midseason 
with  Caulkins  nursing  a  charley  horse  on  the 
sidelines.  The  team  lacked  the  spark,  the  driving 
power,  so  important  to  winning  football. 

Then  Caulkins  went  back  into  the  game.  Cool, 
confident,  with  a  ringing  voice,  he  had  the  effect 
of  a  new  spark  plug  to  a  faltering  motor.  The 
voice  of  Caulkins  carried  them  forward  with  the 
smoothness  and  precision  of  a  well-timed  ma- 
chine. He  had  leadership;  and  more  than  one 
player  confided  to  me  that  the  mere  presence  of 


34- 


The  Quarterback 


Caulkins  on  the  field  made  all  the  difference  in 
the  world.   They  played  better  than  they  knew. 

A  quarterback  lacking  a  crisp,  staccato  voice 
is  at  a  big  disadvantage.  A  steady  dull  intonation 
cuts  heavily  upon  the  morale  of  the  team.  Ecker- 
sall  of  Chicago  had  a  magnetic  voice,  as  did  Don 
Lourie  and  Wingate  of  Princeton.  And  Stuhl- 
dreher,  of  Notre  Dame  had  an  inspiring  voice  as 
well  as  brains,  courage,  coolness,  speed,  stamina 
and  leadership.   So  did  Richeson,  of  Yale. 

There  is  one  thing  that  every  coach  should 
make  plain  to  every  member  of  his  team — the 
quarterback  is  the  boss  of  strategy  of  the  team 
on  the  field.  No  other  player  has  a  right  to  in- 
terfere with  him.  That  includes  the  captain. 
His  job  is  to  keep  up  the  team's  fighting  morale 
— not  to  tell  the  quarterback  what  plays  to  use. 

Many  football  fans  seem  to  have  gotten  a  mis- 
taken impression  of  the  huddle  system.  When 
it  was  introduced  at  Princeton  a  sports  writer 
in  New  York  wrote  several  clever  stories  about 
the  Princeton  team  going  into  conference.  They 
were  entertaining,  but  not  true.  There  is  no  con- 
ference. The  quarterback  gives  the  orders,  and 
the  other  players  are  not  permitted  to  butt  in. 

I've  seen  more  than  one  game  lost  through  the 
interference  of  other  players  with  the  quarter- 


35- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


back.  One  of  the  most  important  games  played 
two  years  ago  ended  in  a  tie  because  three  juniors 
in  the  backfield  "rode"  the  sophomore  quarter- 
back until  he  didn't  know  whether  he  was  play- 
ing football  or  golf.  The  final  whistle  blew  while 
the  three  juniors  were  arguing  over  which  scor- 
ing play  to  use.  Some  years  ago  we  had  a 
similar  experience  here  at  Princeton.  The 
quarterback  did  not  order  a  kick  on  fourth  down 
with  a  half  yard  to  go  because  the  captain — a 
lineman — told  him  to  put  the  play  over  him  and 
it  would  go.  The  quarterback  did  as  he  was  told, 
but  the  play  didn't  go,  and  we  lost  n  chance  to 
score. 

Every  man  on  the  team  should  believe 
thoroughly  in  the  quarterback.  The  coach  should 
try  to  build  up  in  the  minds  of  the  other  players 
the  idea  that  he  is  infallible.  He  should  never 
bawl  him  out  on  the  field  before  the  other 
players.  I  remember  very  vividly  seeing  a 
promising  quarterback  ruined  by  the  constant 
yelping  of  an  assistant  coach.  Only  one  coach 
should  be  permitted  to  give  the  quarterback  in- 
struction. 

A  coach  hasn't  time  to  teach  generalship  to 
the  entire  team,  but  he  must  make  time  to  teach 
it  to  his  quarterback.   There  are  several  methods. 

36. 


The  Quarterback 


One  is  to  make  the  quarterback  learn  a  lot  of 
rules,  and  then  hope  that  he  will  apply  them  cor- 
rectly in  the  big  games.  I  don't  believe  in  this 
method.  I'd  rather  try  to  teach  my  quarterback 
to  think  football.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that 
the  coach  "sell"  his  conception  of  strategy  to  his 
quarterback.  I've  seen  quarterbacks — whose  at- 
titude always  was;  "Oh,  well,  he  said  to  do  it, 
so  I'll  have  to,  but  my  way  is  better!" 

A  field  general  who  feels  that  way  about  the 
brand  of  generalship  that  he  is  using  isn't  going 
to  get  much  pep  into  his  work  or  out  of  his  team. 
So  I  try  to  convince  my  quarterback  that  I  am 
right.  When  he  doesn't  agree  with  me  I  argue 
with  him,  as  one  football  player  with  another, 
and  try  to  prove  to  him  that  he  is  wrong 

You  can  teach  generalship  indoors  with  a 
blackboard  and  a  piece  of  chalk,  or  with  checkers 
on  a  table,  but  I  think  that  the  best  place  of  all  to 
teach  it  is  right  out  on  the  playing  field.  I  try 
to  get  my  quarterback  out  there  with  me  for  a 
half  hour  or  so  every  day.  My  method  is  similar 
to  the  "case  system"  in  law. 

For  instance,  we'll  be  walking  down  the  field. 
Pretty  soon  I'll  stop  and  say:  "You've  got  the 
ball  here  on  Yale's  thirty  yard  line.  It's  third 
down,  and  you  have  five  yards  to  go.   There  has 


37- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


been  no  score,  and  just  three  minutes  of  play. 
What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

If  the  quarterback  answers  with  the  right  play, 
we  go  on  to  something  else.  If  he  calls  the  wrong 
play,  in  my  mind,  we  stay  right  there  and  talk 
it  over  until  I  think  that  I've  convinced  him  that 
he  is  wrong. 

Quarterbacks  with  speed  and  at  least  a  normal 
share  of  brains  are  not  hard  to  find.  Quarter- 
backs with  courage  are  plentiful.  Quarterbacks 
with  initiative  are  rare.  The  average  signal 
caller  is  inclined  to  work  by  standard  methods, 
to  follow  a  set  pattern.  There  are  not  enough 
of  them  with  the  ability  to  strike  at  the  unex- 
pected sectors  in  an  unexpected  way  at  an  unex- 
pected time.  And  this  is  reasonable  enough,  con- 
sidering the  burden  carried  by  a  young  collegian 
before  critical  crowds  of  60,000  people. 

This  quality  for  pulling  the  unexpected  can  be 
overdone.  There  is  a  story  told  about  a  Michi- 
gan quarterback  who  misapplied  one  of  Coach 
Yost's  best  scoring  plays — good  within  the  ten 
yard  line.  It  was  almost  a  sure  scoring  play 
when  used  for  the  first  time.  But  the  Michigan 
quarterback  was  so  anxious  to  get  it  off  his  mind 
that  he  used  it  around  midfield,  instead  of  wait- 
ing until  they  were  within  striking  distance.  It 

38. 


The  Quarterback 


gained  twenty-five  yards,  but  upon  reaching  the 
ten  yard  line  later  on  there  was  no  deception  left 
in  it  and  it  failed  to  gain. 

Percy  Haughton  was  one  of  the  first  coaches 
to  make  his  quarterback  a  field  general.  He  was 
required  to  do  little  else  than  run  the  team.  It 
was  Haughton's  belief  that  a  quarterback  calling 
the  signals  should  be  protected  at  every  chance, 
not  allowed  to  run  with  the  ball  or  to  figure 
greatly  in  the  interference. 

I  differ  with  his  ideas  on  the  quarterback  job. 
The  modern  game,  with  its  premium  on  direct 
passing,  makes  it  possible  and  profitable  to  use 
the  quarterback  really  as  a  third  halfback  or 
second  fullback  so  far  as  the  offense  is  con- 
cerned, and  putting  a  line-smashing  runner  at 
quarter  is  very  far  indeed  from  wasting  him. 
Heretical  as  it  would  have  seemed  to  a  player  of 
the  nineties,  it  is  plain  truth  to  say  that  designa- 
tions which  distinguish  the  men  in  the  backfield 
are  anomalous  and  unnecessary.  Under  the 
modern  game  the  four  backs,  on  offense  certainly 
and  on  defense  to  a  large  extent,  are  completely 
interchangeable — all  carry  the  ball  and  work  in 
interference  without  much  regard  for  their  de- 
nominations in  the  lineup. 

Those  who  saw  the  Four  Horsemen  of  Notre 


39- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Dame  probably  didn't  know  who  was  the  quarter- 
back. Stuhldreher  led  the  interference,  took  out 
tacklers  with  deadly  effect  by  bringing  them  to 
earth  with  steady  accuracy,  and  yet  he  ran  his 
team  with  unerring  coolness  and  judgment  in 
the  big  games. 

Grantland  Rice  is  authority  for  this  state- 
ment: "In  the  Army  game  where  Stuhledreher 
had  taken  out  man  after  man  by  spilling  tacklers 
in  turn,  a  certain  Notre  Dame  run  was  stopped 
with  a  thud.  Someone  had  broken  through  the 
South  Bend  interference.  On  the  next  play 
Stuhldreher  just  watched  for  the  Army  tackier. 
Having  spotted  his  man,  he  again  called  the  same 
signal,  and  this  time  the  Army  man  suddenly 
found  himself  on  the  back  of  his  neck  with  both 
feet  spinning  in  the  air  as  Crowley  went  on  for 
eighteen  yards." 

George  Pfann,  of  Cornell,  was  another  of 
these  all-around  quarterbacks  who  not  only  led 
the  team  but  filled  every  emergency  in  the  back- 
field.  He  directed  the  team,  passed,  kicked  and 
regularly  ran  with  the  ball. 

In  contrast  to  Pfann,  who  was  a  demon  on 
the  offense,  but  for  all  the  difference  just  as 
valuable  to  Harvard,  was  Charlie  Buell,  one  of 
the  brainiest  quarterbacks  developed  in  the 


40. 


The  Quarterback 


modern  game.  He  weighed  only  140  to  145 
pounds,  was  pink-cheeked  and  frail-looking  and 
possessed  no  dazzling  speed  to  carry  him  along. 
But  he  had  football  brains  and  caused  more 
trouble  than  all  the  200  pound  linemen  the  Crim- 
son had. 

Buell  not  only  possessed  the  ability  to  select 
the  best  plays  given  to  him  but  had  an  uncanny 
knack  of  finding  his  way  out  of  tight  situations. 
He  had  initiative,  courage  and  keen  judgment 
and  always  thought  along  independent  lines. 
Apparently  he  was  never  impressed  with  zone 
play  or  any  standard  methods  of  what  to  do  and 
what  not  to  do. 

Zone  play  is  a  good  servant  but  a  bad  master. 
I  teach  it  to  my  quarterbacks  and  then  tell  them 
to  forget  it.  My  idea  is  that  they  will  forget  the 
details,  which  might  make  them  think  that  a 
certain  play  always  should  be  used  under  certain 
circumstances  in  some  particular  part  of  the  field, 
and  remember  its  broad  principles  which  are  a 
good  ground  work  for  generalship. 

My  ideas  on  zone  play  can  be  summed  up  as 
follows : 

Between  your  goal  line  and  your  twenty-five 
yard  line  you  should  either  kick  on  first  down  or 
try  a  long-gaining  play  and  kick  if  it  fails.  No 

41. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


criss-cross,  triple-pass  or  other  dangerous  plays 
should  be  used  in  this  territory. 

Between  your  twenty-five  yard  line  and  mid- 
field,  kick  on  third  down,  until  then  try  out  op- 
ponents' defense. 

Between  the  center  of  the  field  and  your  oppo- 
nents' twenty-five  yard  line  you  should  use  any 
plays  that  will  gain  ground,  and  kick  on  fourth 
down.  This  is  good  territory  for  the  use  of  trick 
plays. 

Between  your  opponents'  twenty-five  yard  line 
and  their  goal  line  you  should  use  any  plays  that 
will  gain,  being  sure  to  remember  not  to  use 
center-of-the-line  plays  inside  the  ten  yard  line. 
Also,  you  should  remember  not  to  forward  pass 
over  the  goal  line  on  second  or  third  down. 

When  a  quarteback  has  learned  when  to 
punt,  when  not  to  forward  pass,  not  to  use  center 
of  the  line  plays  inside  the  ten  yard  line,  to  play 
to  the  score,  and  the  broad  principles  of  zone 
play,  he  is  well  along  the  path  that  leads  to  good 
generalship.  And  by  this  time,  through  constant 
practice  in  thinking  football,  he  should  have  de- 
veloped the  ability  to  make  many  of  his  de- 
cisions subconsciously.  Most  of  the  things  that 
we  do  really  well  we  do  more  or  less  uncon- 
sciously. Bobby  Jones  or  Ty  Cobb  don't  have 
42. 


The  Quarterback 


to  think  about  their  swing  when  hitting  a  ball. 
Neither  does  a  good  quarterback  have  to  think 
through  a  maze  of  rules  to  choose  the  right  play. 

But  there  are  some  facts  that  every  quarter- 
back always  should  keep  in  the  back  of  his  mind. 
One  of  them  is  that  there  are  twenty-two  foot- 
ball players  in  a  game.  Some  systems  of  foot- 
ball strategy  seem  to  have  been  built  on  the  as- 
sumption that  there  are  only  eleven — all  on  your 
side.  The  position  of  your  opponents  always 
must  dictate  your  game.  The  quarterback  must 
be  taught  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  position  of 
the  defensive  players  and  make  the  defense  play 
for  him.  He  should  remember  that  the  left  side 
of  a  defensive  line  nearly  always  is  the  stronger 
side.  If  he  is  using  a  shift  play,  and  his  oppo- 
nents do  not  shift  with  him,  he  never  should  send 
a  play  to  the  weak  side  of  the  line.  But  if  they 
do  shift,  and  his  strong-side  play  is  stopped  he 
should  try  a  play  to  the  weak  side.  His  object 
always  should  be  to  play  two  men  against  one; 
never  one  man  against  two.  If  the  defensive 
ends  are  playing  in,  he  should  send  his  plays  out- 
side of  them.  He  should  notice  if  the  opposing 
center  is  playing  in  or  out  of  the  line.  For  ex- 
ample, the  defensive  center  nearly  always  is  in 


43- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


the  line  on  third  down  with  one  yard  to  go. 
That's  a  good  spot  for  a  forward  pass. 

The  quarterback  should  be  careful  to  watch 
the  direction  of  his  plays.  The  side  lines  are  bad 
lines — he  must  try  to  keep  away  from  them. 
The  best  line  of  play  is  the  line  with  the  goal 
posts.  He  should  keep  in  the  center  of  the  field, 
if  possible. 

When  he  finds  himself  near  a  side  line,  he 
should  make  his  plays  toward  the  center  of  the 
field.  All  football  fields  are  not  perfectly  level. 
It's  a  lot  easier  to  run  downhill  than  uphill,  yet 
I've  seen  quarterbacks  run  their  plays  uphill 
when  they  just  as  well  could  have  run  them  down- 
hill. The  position  of  the  sun  and  the  direction  of 
the  wind  are  to  be  considered  in  football  general- 
ship. The  quarterback  should  try  to  get  these 
elements  playing  on  his  side.  On  a  wet  field  he 
should  play  a  little  safer  than  usual. 

When  a  team  is  near  a  side  line  and  has  to 
kick,  the  quarterback  should  protect  the  kicker 
by  running  the  play  toward  the  center  of  the  field 
before  kicking.  In  my  opinion  he  never  should 
have  a  player  run  with  the  ball  if  he  intends  to 
ask  him  to  kick  on  the  next  play.  A  player  who 
just  has  been  shaken  up  by  a  hard  tackle  isn't 
any  too  certain  to  get  his  kick  off  smoothly  and 

44- 


The  Quarterback 


quickly.  If  you  can  get  your  kicks  off  under  two 
seconds,  none  of  them  will  be  blocked.  It 
shouldn't  be  forgotten  that  a  kick  may  be  an 
offensive  play.  It  often  is  a  good  idea  to  kick 
on  first  down  when  you  think  that  you  can  get 
more  than  normal  yardage — you  have  the  sur- 
prise element  on  your  side. 

A  football  team  depending  to  win  on  the  other 
fellows  mistakes  is  going  to  get  licked.  You 
must  force  your  own  breaks.  A  good  field 
general  always  is  on  the  alert  for  an  opportunity 
to  gain  an  advantage  over  his  opponents.  Some- 
times when  a  substitute  comes  into  the  game  he 
will  send  a  punt  at  him  before  he  has  a  chance  to 
get  warmed  up.  Or  when  an  opponent  has  made 
a  bad  error,  he'll  shoot  a  play  at  him  before  he 
has  recovered  from  its  effects. 

A  few  years  ago  a  Harvard  quarterback  went 
into  the  Yale  game  and  on  the  very  next  play 
the  ball  was  intentionally  kicked  to  him.  Of 
course  he  fumbled  and  was  immediately  removed 
from  the  game.  The  psychological  effect  of  the 
play  was  realized  by  the  Crimson  coach. 

I  don't  believe  in  hard  and  fast  rules  of  foot- 
ball strategy.  There  is  no  rule  ever  made  that 
shouldn't  be  broken  under  certain  circumstances. 
But  there  are  three  things  that  I  want  my 


45- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


quarterback  to  know,  and  when  he  has  learned 
them  so  thoroughly  that  he  applies  them  almost 
by  instinct,  I  consider  he  has  learned  half  of  the 
strategy  of  football. 

First  of  all,  I  want  him  to  know  when  to  punt. 

He  should  punt  on  fourth  down,  whatever 
the  distance  to  go. 

It  isn't  easy  to  get  a  quarterback  to  learn  that 
rule  so  thoroughly  that  he  will  obey  it  no  matter 
how  strong  the  temptation  is  to  break  it.  I'll 
have  to  admit  that  sometimes  that  temptation  is 
strong.  With  only  a  few  feet,  or  perhaps  only 
a  few  inches,  to  go,  it  is  hard  not  to  try  to  gain 
by  a  running  play,  and  so  keep  possession  of 
the  ball. 

Let's  see  how  it  works  out  in  actual  play.  We 
have  the  ball  in  the  center  of  the  field.  It  is 
fourth  down,  with  a  foot  to  go.  Our  quarterback 
disregards  the  rule,  and  tries  one  of  those  "sure 
plays."  "Sure  plays"  sometimes  are  stopped. 
This  one  is  stopped.  Our  opponents  get  the  ball 
in  the  center  of  the  field,  on  first  down.  They 
are  all  set  to  start  an  offensive. 

Now  for  the  other  side  of  the  picture.  Instead 
of  trying  to  gain  that  foot,  our  quarterback  obeys 
orders  and  calls  for  a  punt.  The  kicker  sends 
the  ball  to  one  side  of  the  field,  so  as  to  limit  our 

46. 


The  Quarterback 


opponents'  field  of  action.  They  get  the  ball 
deep  in  their  own  territory,  try  a  couple  of 
rushes,  and  have  to  kick  it  back  to  us.  We  get 
the  ball  in  about  the  same  position  as  when  we 
kicked,  and  on  first  down.  Under  conditions 
such  as  these,  punting  merely  means  postponing 
possession  of  the  ball  and  offensive  play. 

Always  kick  on  the  fourth  down  unless  you  are 
behind.  In  the  Princeton- Colgate  game  of 
1925  the  score  was  0-0  in  the  middle  of  the  third 
period.  Princeton  held  the  ball  at  midfield, 
fourth  down  and  two  yards  to  go. 

The  Princeton  quarterback  elected  to  rush  the 
ball  and  failed  to  make  the  required  yardage. 
Colgate  secured  the  ball  and  with  it  went  the 
football  game.  The  failure  of  the  Princeton 
quarterback  to  order  a  kick  cost  the  Princeton 
team  fifty  yards  and  they  were  never  able  to 
overcome  the  distance. 

Colgate  failed  to  gain,  punted  on  the  fourth 
down.  Princeton  received  the  ball  and  was 
downed  on  the  ten  yard  line.  Neither  side  gained 
consistently  and  the  last  half  of  the  game  de- 
veloped into  a  punting  duel. 

Finally,  Colgate  blocked  a  kick,  the  ball  rolled 
behind  our  goal  line  where  one  of  our  men  re- 
covered it  for  a  safety.  Had  we  punted  in  mid- 
47- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


field  instead  of  attempting  to  rush  the  ball  on  the 
fourth  down,  the  rest  of  the  game  might  have 
been  played  in  Colgate's  territory  and  the  out- 
come somewhat  different. 

This  illustration  is  not  offered  as  an  excuse  for 
a  lost  game.  The  Colgate  players,  by  keeping 
their  heads  up  and  playing  smarter  football,  de- 
served to  win.  Anyhow,  Eddie  Tryon  made  the 
victory  more  decisive  by  skirting  our  end  for  a 
touchdown  and  the  game  ended  9-0. 

The  disasterous  results  of  not  following  the 
rule  to  punt  on  fourth  down  are  many  and  I  will 
argue  all  night  on  the  folly  of  rushing  the  ball. 

So  I  make  it  an  almost  absolute  rule  to  punt 
on  fourth  down.  The  only  exception  to  this  is 
when  you  are  playing  to  the  score — and  in  foot- 
ball, as  in  bridge,  you  always  should  be  playing 
to  the  score.  If  you  hold  the  short  end  of  the 
score  in  the  last  few  minutes  of  play,  it  pays  to 
take  chances  to  retain  possession  of  the  ball. 
Under  these  circumstances  a  quarterback  is  justi- 
fied in  ordering  a  running  play  on  fourth  down. 

Second,  I  want  my  quarterback  to  know  when 
not  to  forward  pass. 

You  should  never  forward  pass  in  the  last  two 
minutes  of  the  game  if  you  hold  the  long  end  of 
the  score.    Suppose  you  are  leading,  7-6.  You 

48. 


The  Quarterback 


try  a  forward  pass.  It  is  intercepted,  and  your 
opponents  score  a  touchdown.  You  are  beaten 
by  the  score  of  12-7,  because  you  took  an  un- 
necessary chance. 

Third,  I  want  my  quarterback  to  know  when 
not  to  send  plays  at  the  center  of  the  line.  I 
give  him  an  almost  absolute  rule  never  to  send 
a  play  at  the  center  of  the  line  inside  our  oppo- 
nents ten  yard  line.  When  a  team  is  fighting 
under  its  own  goal  posts  most  of  its  strength  is 
almost  sure  to  be  massed  on  the  center  of  the 
line.  Why  handicap  yourself  by  attacking  the 
strongest  point,  and  using  a  play  that  your  oppo- 
nents are  certain  to  be  expecting? 

I've  seen  more  than  one  football  game  lost  by 
a  quarterback  sending  a  play  up  against  a  stone 
wall  of  that  sort.  In  the  1919  Harvard  game 
Princeton  played  a  10-10  tie.  We  had  to  kick 
a  field  goal  and  tie  that  game  instead  of  winning 
it,  because  we  sent  a  play  at  the  center  of  the 
Harvard  line  inside  their  ten  yard  mark.  That 
same  year,  in  the  Yale-Harvard  game,  Yale 
gained  over  fifty  yards  on  a  series  of  off  tackle 
plays,  and  then  was  stopped  dead  on  the  four 
yard  line  because  their  quarterback  sent  a  play  at 
the  center  of  the  Harvard  line.  That  brand  of 
football  doesn't  win  games.   When  a  team  has 


49. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


been  driven  back  almost  to  its  own  goal  line  most 
of  its  strength  is  massed  on  the  center  of  the 
line,  this  means  that  there  must  be  a  weak  spot 
somewhere  else  in  its  defense.  Find  that  weak 
spot!  Try  an-end-run  or  a  play  off  tackle — 
anything  but  a  bull-headed  smash  into  the  stone 
wall.  The  time  to  use  center-of-the-line  plays  is 
when  your  opponent  is  expecting  something 
totally  different — say  when  you  have  the  ball  in 
the  center  of  the  field,  with  eight  yards  or  so  to 
go  on  second  or  third  down. 

In  the  1926  Yale-Princeton  game,  Princeton 
had  the  ball  on  Yale's  four  yard  line.  It  was 
fourth  down  and  one  yard  to  go.  The  score  was 
nothing  to  nothing.  Everyone,  including  my- 
self, expected  a  center  rush.  The  Yale  line  con- 
tracted and  prepared  to  stop  the  assault  directed 
at  the  center  of  the  line. 

But  Dan  Caulkins  was  one  step  ahead.  He 
sized  up  the  situation,  saw  the  Yale  men  centered 
in  the  line  to  stop  the  obvious  play,  and  decided 
to  pull  the  unexpected. 

Instead  of  calling  for  the  expected  line  rush, 
or  even  a  dash  off  tackle,  Caulkins  ordered  a  for- 
ward pass  hurled  to  him  and  started  off  toward 
end. 

There  wasn't  a  blue  jersey  within  tackling  dis- 


50. 


The  Quarterback 


tance  as  Caulkins  grabbed  the  ball  and  raced 
over  the  goal  line  for  an  easy  touchdown. 

Caulkins  protected  his  play  by  starting  it  out 
as  a  regular  line  buck  while  he  drifted  out  toward 
the  side  and  then,  before  the  Yale  men  realized 
their  mistake,  it  was  too  late. 

I  doubt  if  any  other  play  would  have  gained 
the  required  distance  against  the  concentrated 
Yale  line  prepared  to  stubbornly  resist  any 
offense.  Caulkins  found  their  weak  spot — the 
end— and  crashed  through  for  the  first  touch- 
down. 

Did  you  ever  sit  in  the  stands  and  listen  to 
some  of  the  wise  boys  in  the  crowd  roasting  the 
quarterback  because  he  didn't  order  a  drop-kick 
when  he  was  within  thirty-five  yards  or  so  of  the 
goal  line,  and  his  running  plays  weren't  gaining 
any  too  well?  It  never  occurs  to  these  grand- 
stand coaches  that  every  drop-kicker,  like  every 
rifle,  has  a  limit  of  effective  range.  The  quarter- 
back they  are  roasting  probably  is  using  good 
judgment.  If  he  was  playing  on  a  team  that  I 
coached  he  was  obeying  orders.  I  give  my 
quarterback  an  almost  absolute  rule  never  to  try 
to  stretch  the  effective  range  of  his  drop-kicker. 
If  your  drop-kicker  can't  kick  over  thirty  yards, 
where's  the  value  of  trying  to  have  him  put  it 

Si- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


over  from  the  thirty-five  yard  mark?  I  don't 
want  to  drop-kick  until  I  can't  do  anything  else, 
but  when  I  do  drop-kick  I  want  to  have  a  real 
chance  to  score.  Otherwise  there's  no  reason  for 
the  play;  a  drop-kick  or  a  placement  kick  is  more 
risky  than  a  punt  because  it  takes  longer  to  get 
off,  and  there  is  a  bigger  chance  of  it  being 
blocked.  That's  the  reason  that  so  many  tries 
for  point  after  touchdown  are  broken  up. 

In  the  Princeton-Navy  game  at  Baltimore  in 
1923,  Princeton  was  leading  3-0  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  quarter.  With  the  ball  on  the 
Navy's  thirty-five  yard  line  on  fourth  down  and 
five  yards  to  go,  the  Tiger  quarterback  called  for 
a  drop-kick,  with  the  kicker  placed  on  the  Navy's 
forty-five  yard  line.  The  ball  was  snapped  back, 
in  streamed  the  strong  Navy  linemen,  and  as  the 
ball  ascended  from  the  kicker's  toe,  it  bounced 
against  a  Navy  man  who  recovered  it  and  raced 
to  our  twenty-five  yard  line  before  he  was 
tackled.  A  few  minutes  later  they  tried  a  place- 
ment kick  and  tied  the  score  3-3. 

The  Princeton  drop-kicker  was  very  accurate 
but  his  range  was  thirty-five  yards — not  forty- 
five.  He  could  kick  that  distance  and  no  farther. 
The  drop-kick  is  of  necessity  much  slower  in 
getting  off  than  the  punt  and  is  easier  to  block. 

52. 


The  Quarterback 


In  this  case  a  punt  would  have  placed  the 
Navy  on  the  defense,  even  with  possession  of  the 
ball.  They  would  have  had  to  kick  out  of  danger 
and  Princeton  would  have  recovered  the  ball  on 
approximately  the  same  spot  with  a  clear  field 
and  first  down  ahead  of  them. 

3?he  drop-kick  was  a  mere  pot  shot.  There 
was  only  one  chance  in  a  hundred  of  getting  away 
with  it.  Even  so,  Princeton  led  by  a  mere  three 
points.  Would  another  three  points  sew  up  the 
game?  Say  Navy  scored  a  touchdown?  The 
game  would  have  ended  7-6  in  their  favor. 

You  noticed  that  I  said  an  "almost  absolute 
rule."  There  is  a  time  to  break  this  rule  against 
trying  to  stretch  the  range  of  your  drop-kicker, 
and  that  time  is  when  you  are  holding  the  short 
end  of  the  score,  and  three  points  will  win  or  tie 
the  game  for  you.  Then  the  quarterback  should 
take  chances.  The  kicker  may  rise  to  the  oc- 
casion and  add  five  yards  to  the  normal  length  of 
his  kick.  As  you  have  everything  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose,  it's  worth  trying. 

In  the  1912  Princeton- Yale  game  the  Tigers 
were  leading  with  a  3-0  score.  The  ball  was  at 
midfield,  in  Yale's  possession,  with  less  than  three 
minutes  of  play  remaining.  There  wasn't  time 
to  make  a  touchdown,  even  had  they  been  able  to 


S3- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


gain  consistently,  which  they  failed  to  do  all  af- 
ternoon. On  straight  football  they  were  beaten 
and  it  was  the  time  to  try  something  spectacular, 
to  take  a  long  chance.  Very  properly,  the 
quarterback  signalled  for  a  drop-kick  and 
Pumpelly,  standing  on  the  forty-eight  yard  line, 
received  the  ball,  gave  it  a  lusty  boot.  It  sailed 
down  the  field,  bounced  on  the  cross  bar,  and  then 
dropped  over.   The  game  ended  3-3. 

A  quarterback  should  be  required  to  know  the 
limitations  and  potentialities  of  his  teammates, 
and  the  ground-gaining  value  of  his  plays.  It 
is  almost  necessary  to  provide  the  field  general 
with  a  play  certain  to  make  two  yards.  When 
he  needs  this  play  he  needs  it  badly.  He  should 
not  be  given  too  many  plays,  but  those  given  to 
him  should  cover  every  possible  emergency.  If 
you've  trained  him  right,  he'll  pick  the  right  play 
at  the  right  time. 

Ten  plays  are  better  than  fifty.  And  one  un- 
expected play  is  better  than  ten  obvious  plays, 
for  the  expected  play  is  always  a  weak  play,  and 
the  unexpected  play  nine  times  out  of  ten  is  the 
ground-gaining  play.  By  unexpected  plays  I 
do  not  mean  miracle  plays  that  work  once  in  fifty 
attempts.  Any  standard  play,  used  at  a  moment 
when  your  opponents  are  expecting  something 


54- 


The  Quarterback 


entirely  different,  has  the  element  of  surprise 
that  makes  the  out-and-out  trick  play  a  winner — 
when  it  goes. 

Don  Lourie  pulled  one  of  the  neatest  plays  in 
many  a  moon  against  Yale  in  1920,  when  he 
scored  a  touchdown  on  a  fake  place  kick  at  the 
end  of  the  second  period.  Touchdowns  have 
been  scored  on  this  play  before  but  Lourie's 
initiative  added  a  certain  distinction  to  the  play. 

Princeton  led  by  a  3-0  score  with  the  ball  on 
Yale's  forty-two  yard  line.  A  second  of  play 
remained,  which  meant  that  the  side  with  the  ball 
had  an  opportunity  to  complete  one  play  before 
intermission. 

Usually  the  quarterback  would  consult  his 
captain  and  then  call  his  players  into  a  consulta- 
tion. A  lot  of  talk  would  be  spilled  and  at  the 
end  the  opponents  would  know  that  a  fake  play 
would  be  tried. 

But  not  Lourie.  Looking  over  his  players  and 
noting  the  position  of  the  Yale  defense,  he 
stepped  into  his  position  and  gave  his  signals. 
He  acted  as  if  he  had  all  afternoon  to  get  off  the 
play.  He  did  not  appear  hurried  or  excited. 

"Place  kick  formation!"  he  shouted.  Stan 
Keck  left  his  position  at  tackle  and  a  backfleld 
man  replaced  him  in  the  line.  More  signals  came 

55- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


and  Lourie  dropped  to  the  ground  on  one  knee, 
both  hands  extended  for  the  ball. 

Before  it  was  passed,  he  got  up  and  turned 
to  Keck.  "You  are  not  back  far  enough,"  he 
said.  "Kick  to  the  left.  There  is  a  stiff  wind 
blowing.   Now  make  this  good!" 

Again  Lourie  dropped  to  one  knee.  Mike 
Callahan  set  himself  to  make  the  pass  and  the 
linemen  were  braced  to  hold  the  opposing  for- 
wards. 

Eleven  men  on  the  Yale  team  prepared  for  a 
kick.  What  else  could  be  used  with  one  second 
to  play?  Also,  Lourie  was  careful  in  getting 
Keck  back  far  enough  to  make  the  kick  without 
being  hurried.  Eleven  minds  were  concentrated 
on  one  play  and  every  effort  was  made  to  pre- 
vent the  goal  from  the  field. 

The  ball  sped  back  into  the  waiting  hands  of 
Lourie.  The  Yale  forwards  rushed  through. 
So  did  the  ends  and  backfield  men.  It  was  their 
opportunity  to  spoil  the  kick. 

Lourie  calmly  caught  the  ball  and  placed  it 
on  the  ground.  The  opposing  linesmen  were  all 
around  him.   Keck  started  forward  to  kick. 

Then  something  happened.  Rising  quickly, 
Lourie  shoved  the  ball  under  his  arm  and  darted 
for  the  sidelines.    On,  on,  he  went,  for  twenty 

56. 


The  Quarterback 


yards,  with  blue  jerseyed  men  at  his  heels.  Then 
he  turned  and  sped  toward  the  goal  line. 

Keck  spilled  one  tackier,  but  two  others  came 
at  the  ball  carrier  Lourie  stopped,  dodged  one 
and  the  other  Yale  man  crashed  into  his  team- 
mate, the  two  being  put  out  of  the  play. 

This  gave  the  Tiger  quarterback  a  clear  field 
and  he  crossed  the  goal  line  without  being 
touched. 


57- 


Chapter  IV 


BY  THEIR  PLAYS  YE  SHALL  KNOW  THEM 

OLLEGE  football  teams  have  achieved  an 


individuality  of  play  with  which  they  are 
forever  identified.  Notre  Dame  has  excelled  in 
the  daring,  deceptive  style  of  play.  Michigan  is 
unrivalled  as  exponents  of  the  forward  pass  and 
Pennsylvania  has  long  been  associated  with 
powerful  defensive  football. 

Difference  of  opinion  not  only  made  horse 
racing.  It  has  also  been,  apparently,  the  stimu- 
lus for  the  open,  modern  game  of  football  with 
emphasis  on  speed,  initiative  and  skill.  One 
coach  teaches  that  the  best  defense  is  a  good  of- 
fense and  another  equally  successful  mentor  is 
strong  in  its  denunciation. 

This  blending  of  ideas  as  to  what  is  supreme 
in  modern  football  leads  to  many  spirited  dis- 
cussions— and  improvements  on  team  play  and 
strategy.  Football  of  today  is  essentially  a  battle 
of  wits  and  with  each  team  trying  to  outsmart 
the  other,  new  plays,  formations  and  defensive 


58. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


tactics  are  invented  annually.  Yet  some  of  the 
most  successful  elevens  in  the  country  go  right 
along,  year  in  and  year  out,  sticking  to  the  same 
fundamentals  upon  which  their  football  system 
was  founded  many  years  ago. 

One  of  the  real  landmarks  in  college  football 
is  the  "Pennsylvania  Defense."  Even  to  this 
day  it  has  been  changed  very  little  since  1892 
when  it  was  introduced  by  George  Woodruff,  the 
old  Yale  player.  Pennsylvania  elevens  still  cling 
to  it. 

The  play  depends  on  a  smashing  end  and  a 
close  line.  In  the  Nineties,  the  backs  on  the  de- 
fense, with  the  exception  of  the  quarterback 
played  right  behind  the  rush  line.  The  fullback 
was  placed  behind  the  center  rush  with  the  half- 
backs behind  the  tackles. 

Woodruff  used  his  ends  to  smash  the  inter- 
ference on  all  plays.  Their  job  was  to  "strip  it 
naked."  The  ends  were  instructed  to  go  after 
the  interference, — not  the  ball-carrier,  who  was 
practically  forced  to  run  wide. 

With  the  defense  line  tight  and  the  tacklers 
streaming  in  as  fast  as  the  ends,  the  only  men  on 
the  line  burdened  with  a  dual  responsibility  were 
the  guards.   They  were  expected  to  make  their 

59- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


initial  charge  and,  if  necessary,  support  the  op- 
posite end. 

If  a  play  started  around  the  Pennsylvania 
right  end,  the  left  guard  was  expected  to  swing 
out  behind  his  own  line  and  tackle  the  runner. 
The  guard  usually  met  the  man  with  the  ball  a 
trifle  behind  the  line  of  scrimmage.  And  it  was 
no  joke  to  be  tackled  by  a  burly  two  hundred 
pound  guard  running  at  top  speed. 

The  Pennsylvania  Defense  was  very  power- 
ful before  the  days  of  the  hidden  ball  plays  and 
Woodruff's  plan  is  still  sound  against  straight 
football.  A  delayed  play  apparently  starting  as 
an  end  run  and,  suddenly  swerving  through  the 
guard,  would  undoubtedly  gain  through  this  type 
of  defense.  And  such  delayed  plays  would  also 
hold  the  guard  in  position. 

The  Pennsylvania  Defense  was  so  successful 
at  the  time  of  its  introduction  because  the  Red 
and  Blue  were  supplied  with  four  really  great 
guards.  They  were  Woodruff  and  Wharton  fol- 
lowed by  Hare  and  McCracken.  These  men 
were  the  outstanding  linemen  of  the  day. 

Woodruff  recognized  this  and  undoubtedly 
built  his  defense  and  attack  around  them. 

As  the  game  changed,  the  Penn  coaches  re- 
tained the  vital  elements  of  the  original  defense 
60. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


but  modified  it  to  meet  changed  conditions. 
They  always  kept  the  smashing  end  and  the 
close  defensive  rush  line. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  forward  pass  and 
ten  yards  to  gain  on  four  downs,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  place  the  wing  backs  back  further  behind 
the  line.  The  guards  were  kept  in  the  line  and 
the  center  taken  out  to  support  the  tackles  along 
with  the  fullback. 

The  Pennsylvania  Defense  was  the  original 
6-2-2-1  defense  with  the  guards  and  tackles  low, 
using  their  shoulders  in  their  initial  charge  in- 
stead of  their  hands.  Each  lineman  was  ex- 
pected to  cover  so  much  space  and  to  think  of 
nothing  else.  The  ends  still  are  expected  to 
smash  the  interference  with  the  wing  backs  com- 
ing up  to  cover  the  runner. 

Many  teams  have  copied  the  Pennsylvania  de- 
fense. It  has  stood  the  test  of  time  as  well  as  any 
other  in  the  country,  but  with  it  all  I  believe  it 
has  certain  elements  of  weakness. 

Personally,  I  am  not  strong  for  the  smashing 
end.  The  defensive  end  rush  should  drive  in 
hard  and  fast  and  stop  the  interference.  But 
why  should  he  leave  his  feet  in  doing  it?  The 
same  results  can  be  accomplished  by  an  end  rush 
who  comes  in  hard  and  fast  using  his  hands  on 

61. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


the  interference  and  still  keeping  his  feet.  If  he 
is  on  his  feet  after  the  first  clash,  the  end  has  not 
eliminated  himself  from  the  play.  He  can  fol- 
low up  and,  in  many  events,  get  the  ball-carrier. 
The  end  who  leaves  his  feet  is  out  of  the  play 
entirely. 

With  a  smashing  end,  the  wing  back  is  ex- 
pected to  cover  the  flank — to  do  so  he  must  come 
up  quickly  and  is  thus  apt  to  leave  his  territory 
unguarded  against  a  cleverly  masked  forward 
pass.  While  if  the  wing  back  does  not  come  up 
quickly  on  swing  plays  he  is  very  apt  to  be  cut 
down  by  opposing  linemen  cutting  over  behind 
the  line  of  scrimmage. 

"Red"  Grange  had  a  field  day  against  Michi- 
gan in  1924?  and  repeated  against  Penn  in  1925. 
Soth  these  teams  played  a  six  man  line  defense 
and  drove  the  ends  in  fast  and  low.  I'll  admit 
the  ends  cut  down  the  interference,  but  Grange 
was  still  running  toward  the  sidelines  and  then 
turned  down  the  clear  field.  By  this  time  the 
Illinois  linemen  had  cut  through  and  taken  out 
the  wing  backs.  Of  course  it  must  be  admitted 
that  Grange  is  an  exceptional  man.  But  I  still 
contend  that  the  only  defense  against  a  real  end 
run  is  a  fast  driving  end  who  keeps  his  feet  and 
forces  the  ball-carrier  inside. 

62. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


I  should  like  to  discuss  the  advisability  of  a  six 
man  line.  Here  again  I  prefer  a  fluid  defense 
with  the  center  in  or  out  of  the  line.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  center  rush,  whether  he  is  in  or  out 
of  the  line,  should  depend  upon  the  down,  the 
number  of  yards  to  gain  and  the  position  of  the 
teams  on  the  field. 

On  third  or  fourth  down  with  only  a  yard  or 
so  to  gain  there  is  more  chance  of  a  line  play  than 
a  wide  end  run.  Here  the  center  should  be  in 
the  line.  While  on  a  third  down  with  ten  yards 
to  go,  an  open  play  is  to  be  expected. 

Of  course  as  I  have  shown  in  the  chapter  on 
strategy  there  is  always  a  possibility  of  a  brainy 
quarterback  pulling  the  unexpected  and  cross- 
ing the  defense.  But  I  am  now  counting  on 
probabilities  which  will  happen  in  the  majority 
of  instances. 

Undoubtedly,  the  staunch  supporters  of  the 
six  man  defense  and  smashing  end  can  point  to 
a  very  impressive  record  of  positive  achieve- 
ments. No  team  has  put  up  a  stronger  goal  de- 
fense than  Pennsylvania.  On  several  occasions 
I  have  personally  seen  Penn  teams  stop  the 
powerful  Cornell  attack  in  the  shadow  of  their 
own  goal  line. 

Pennsylvania  is  strong  on  the  defense.   It  is 

63- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


their  long  suit  in  playing  the  game.  And  just 
as  the  Red  and  Blue  are  famed  for  their  defense 
Notre  Dame,  the  other  extreme  in  football,  have 
become  famous  for  their  offense,  practicing  the 
proverb  of  battle  field  and  gridiron  that  a  good 
offense  is  the  best  defense. 

No  team  in  the  land  has  excelled  the  records 
made  by  the  Notre  Dame  teams  during  the  last 
few  seasons.  They  have  been  the  leading  expo- 
nents of  the  deceptive,  open  game  and  have 
played  smart,  intelligent  football. 

The  Notre  Dame  offense,  for  which  they  are 
famous,  consists  of  a  backfield  shift  with  the  real 
strength  of  the  attack  depending  on  the  ends. 
In  contrast  to  the  coaching  of  Yost,  at  Michigan, 
who  abandoned  close  formations  several  years 
ago  because  he  considered  it  almost  impossible  to 
box  the  defensive  tackles,  the  Notre  Dame  ends 
have  managed  to  take  the  tackles  better  than  any 
I  have  ever  seen.  It  is  conceded  to  be  the  hard- 
est job  in  offensive  football.  A  good  tackle  on 
the  defense  stops  more  plays  than  any  one 
player. 

I  have  watched  the  Notre  Dame  ends  do  the 
trick  time  and  again.  And  they  do  it  practically 
alone. 

Notre  Dame  uses  a  close  formation  almost  en- 
64. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


tirely.  Starting  with  a  balanced  line,  the  quar- 
terback under  center  and  the  backs  in  a  parallel 
line  about  four  yards  behind  the  scrimmage  line, 
they  get  into  action.  From  this  original  posi- 
tion the  backs  shift  right  or  left  into  a  tandem 
formation.  The  quarterback  handles  the  ball  on 
line  plays  and  yet  he  does  it  so  cleverly  that  it 
is  hard  to  tell  when  he  gets  it  and  when  the  ball 
goes  direct  to  the  ball-carrier. 

The  end  shifts  out  with  the  backs.  And  here 
lies  the  strength  of  the  attack.  On  a  wide  flank 
play  the  end  shifts  outside  the  tackle  and  boxes 
him  in.  On  an  inside  play  the  end  apparently 
shifts  out.  But  he  only  goes  through  the  mo- 
tions and  ends  up  in  position  to  drive  the  tackle 
put.  After  a  couple  of  plays  the  end  has  the 
opposing  tackle  confused.  If  he  goes  out  he  is 
apt  to  find  the  end  inside  of  him  when  the  play 
starts.  If  he  doesn't  move  out  with  the  end  he 
is  more  than  likely  to  be  outflanked.  With  the 
tackle  out  of  the  picture,  the  Notre  Dame  inter- 
ference can  pay  undivided  attention  to  the  de- 
fensive end.  He  is  swept  out  of  the  way  and  the 
play  moves  past  the  line  of  scrimmage  for  a  gain. 

Rockne  uses  the  forward  pass  more  as  a 
threat  than  an  actual  part  of  his  attack.  But  his 
opponents  have  learned  not  to  discount  the 

65. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Notre  Dame  passing  strength.  When  the  occa- 
sion requires,  their  forward  passing  game  is 
very  effective.  The  quarterback  does  the  pass- 
ing, getting  the  ball  under  center  and  first  fak- 
ing to  a  back,  then  running  back  to  make  the 
pass. 

Here  is  the  original  position  of  the  Notre 
Dame  attack: 

(1)  O  O  O  X  o  o  o 

QB 
O  O  Ol 

3  2 


(2)  O  O  O  X  O  O  O 

QB 
O  Ol 
02 
03 

The  end  has  shifted  outside  the  defensive 
tackle.  The  entire  backfield  has  shifted  to  the 
right.  From  this  formation  expect  a  wide  end 
run  or  a  cut  back  inside  of  the  defensive  tackle. 
On  a  cut  back  the  end  fakes  out  drawing  the 
tackle  wide.   On  this  play  the  end  usually  boxes 

66. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


the  guard.  B  1  and  QB  drive  the  tackle  out 
with  the  help  of  the  tackle,  who  cross-checks  the 
tackle.  B  3  carries  the  ball  on  both  plays.  On 
the  wide  end  run,  the  end  boxes  the  tackle  B  1 
and  B  2  drive  right  at  the  defensive  end,  with 
QB  helping  when  necessary. 

Rockne  also  uses  the  guards  in  the  interfer- 
ence and  they  are  very  effective  on  the  wide  end 
run. 

Position  of  players  with  QB  handling  the 
ball. 

(3).  O  O  O  X  O  O  O 

O  Ol 
QB 

0  2 
03 

The  football  offense  of  today  is  really  built 
around  the  forward  pass.  It  is  just  as  important 
to  the  modern,  open  game  as  the  massed  play 
was  to  the  old  kind  of  football.  The  general 
idea  that  the  forward  pass  is  essentially  a  shoe 
string  play,  heavily  loaded  with  danger  for  the 
user,  is  misleading.  Even  moderately  well  exe- 
cuted, the  forward  pass  is  among  the  safest 
plays  available  on  the  offense  for  gaining 

67. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


ground.  Consider  its  possibilities  and  this  fact 
becomes  self  evident. 

There  are  only  three  things  that  can  happen 
to  a  forward  pass.  It  may  be  caught  and  held 
or  carried  for  a  substantial  gain.  It  may  be 
grounded  and  a  down  wasted.  Or  it  may  be  in- 
tercepted by  the  opponents. 

Analysis  of  the  season's  play  of  any  fairly 
good  eleven  has  shown  that  the  most  likely  re- 
sults of  passing  is  that  the  pass  was  completed 
or  grounded.  On  such  cases  possession  of  the 
ball  will  not  change  and  the  worst  that  can  hap- 
pen will  be  the  loss  of  a  down.  The  same 
analysis  illustrated  that  four  times  as  many 
passes  are  completed  as  are  intercepted.  With 
a  moderately  competent  player  passing  the  ball 
this  play  becomes  more  one-sided  in  favor  of 
completion. 

I  have  always  believed  the  pass  was  a  safe 
play.  It  is  also  pregnant  with  scoring  possi- 
bilities from  any  spot  on  the  field  and  these  pos- 
sibilities necessarily  increase  in  direct  ratio  to  the 
approach  toward  the  opposing  goal.  There  are 
two  obvious  reasons  for  this:  first,  there  is  less 
distance  to  be  covered  by  the  runner  who  re- 
covers the  pass,  and  second,  and  more  important, 
the  defense  necessarily  draws  in  as  a  score  be- 

68. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


comes  more  imminent,  which  of  course  is  the 
ideal  situation  for  the  forward  passer. 

Again,  there  is  no  other  play  which  possesses 
the  force  of  the  pass  as  a  threat.  Even  if  the 
completed  pass  itself  gains  little  or  nothing  in 
yardage,  it  gains  heavily  in  the  effected  morale 
of  the  defense  and  on  the  physical  arrangement 
of  the  defending  players. 

The  new  rules  permit  the  same  freedom  in 
backward  or  lateral  passing  as  heretofore  al- 
lowed the  forward  pass.  It  is  much  too  early  to 
make  any  prediction  as  to  the  possibilities  of  the 
lateral  pass  under  the  changed  rules.  I  doubt  if 
the  lateral  pass  will  ever  become  as  effective  as 
the  forward  pass. 

First,  it  must  be  made  on  the  run,  with  the 
passer  not  only  off  his  balance  but  under  the 
necessity  of  avoiding  tackles  from  the  front,  back 
and  side,  and  also  it  must  not  be  made  until  the 
opponent  is  very  close  or  the  intending  tackier 
will  have  a  chance  to  go  after  the  receiver.  This 
means  the  pass  cannot  be  the  accurate,  steady, 
straight  line  affair  which  the  forward  pass  has 
become,  but  must  be  a  hurried  lob  which  at  best 
is  inaccurate. 

Again,  the  lateral  pass  is  made,  usually,  while 
the  passer  is  still  behind  the  scrimmage  line  or 

69. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


very  close  to  it.  Thus  the  lateral  pass,  if  com- 
pleted must  still  be  carried  by  the  runner  if  any- 
thing is  to  be  gained,  and  unless  the  play  is  very 
cleverly  masked  by  a  feint,  the  chance  of  this 
gain  is  rather  less  than  of  a  running  gain  after 
a  completed  forward  pass.  In  other  words,  your 
lateral  pass  at  its  very  best  gives  the  runner  a 
chance  to  gain  from  the  scrimmage  line,  with 
several  defensive  players  still  in  a  good  position 
to  bring  him  down,  while  the  mere  completion 
of  a  forward  pass  involves  a  substantial  gain. 

Michigan's  forward  passing  attack  is  one  of 
the  most  effective  in  offensive  football  today. 
Yost,  the  capable  Michigan  coach,  has  developed 
the  forward  pass  into  his  most  successful  play. 
Every  year  you  will  find  on  the  Wolverines  an 
expert  passer  and  several  equally  expert  re- 
ceivers. Benny  Friedman,  captain,  quarterback 
and  outstanding  star  of  the  1926  eleven,  is  prob- 
ably one  of  the  best  passers  who  played  at  Michi- 
gan. 

Yost  has  not  stinted  himself  with  time  in  ex- 
perimenting, practicing  and  perfecting  the  for- 
ward pass.  The  Michigan  spring  practice  is  de- 
voted almost  entirely  to  passing  and  receiving  the 
ball.  In  the  autumn,  even,  more  than  a  half  hour 
daily  is  set  aside  for  perfecting  the  passes.  LThe 

70. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


backs  and  ends  are  drilled  and  drilled  in  catch- 
ing the  ball  from  all  conceivable  angles. 

Michigan  passes,  as  a  result,  are  the  most  ef- 
fective in  the  game.  The  players  handle  the 
football  with  the  ease  and  skill  of  a  professional 
ball  player  with  a  baseball. 

Yost  has  realized  that  the  real  success  of  the 
forward  passing  game  is  determined,  not  only  in 
having  a  good  passer,  but  having  competent  re- 
ceivers to  handle  the  thrown  ball.  Some  coaches 
fail  to  recognize  this  and  then  wonder  why  passes 
are  not  caught  with  more  regularity  when 
thrown  within  reaching  distance. 

Another  point.  The  receiver  should  be 
trained  to  catch  the  ball  in  his  hands — not  his 
arms.  There  should  be  no  effort  to  fight  the  ball 
and  the  arms  from  the  elbows  down  should  be 
relaxed  and  never  tense.  The  arms  should  give 
with  the  ball. 

Yost  has  discovered  a  method  of  drilling  his 
passers  which  has  proved  very  successful.  He 
insists  the  passer  throw  a  light  easy  ball.  Some 
passers  throw  a  ball  with  the  speed  of  a  bullet. 
The  ball  bounces  away  from  the  receiver  and  the 
fellow  loses  confidence  immediately.  But  a  soft 
thrown  ball  makes  the  catching  easier,  builds 

7i. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


confidence,  and  as  the  season  progresses,  the  men 
are  equally  capable  of  handling  the  hard  passes. 

All  of  Michigan's  passes  are  hurled  from  kick 
formation,  Yost,  in  contrast  to  Rockne,  has  not 
used  a  close  formation  for  four  or  five  years.  He 
does  not  believe  in  the  flat  or  short  pass.  All  the 
Michigan  forward  passes  are  made  well  down  the 
field,  often  over  the  head  of  the  defensive  wing 
backs.  In  1923  I  saw  the  Michigan-Minnesota 
game.  Michigan  completed  two  beautiful  passes 
from  midfield.  One  resulted  in  a  score  and  the 
other  led  up  to  a  field  goal. 

Yost  works  on  the  theory  that  the  flat  or  short 
pass  means  nothing.  Even  if  completed  the  re- 
ceiver is  usually  downed  before  he  has  gained 
any  distance  while  the  interception  of  the  pass 
may  mean  the  loss  of  the  game. 

"Keep  on  throwing  long  passes  down  field.  If 
they  are  recovered,  your  opponents  have  little 
chance  of  gaining,"  he  says.  "While  on  the 
other  hand  every  time  you  catch  the  ball  you  are 
on  the  road  to  a  touchdown.  It  is  worth  the 
risk." 

Few  teams  have  succeeded  in  checking  the 
Michigan  forward  passing  attack,  except  at  the 
expense  of  a  greatly  weakened  first  line  defense. 
In  the  fall  of  1926  the  Navy  stopped  their  for- 

72. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


ward  passing  game  by  keeping  the  two  wing 
backs  at  least  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  behind  the 
line.  They  stayed  in  this  territory  all  afternoon 
and  Michigan  seldom  completed  a  pass. 

This  was  one  of  the  few  instances  where  a 
variation  of  the  long  pass  might  have  worked. 
But  the  results  obtained  over  a  long  period  of 
years  have  justified  Michigan's  system  of  for- 
ward passing. 

For  years  the  standard  close  formation  in  use 
all  over  the  country  has  been  an  unbalanced  line 
with  tandem  backfield  formation.  No.  1  back 
is  placed  just  outside  the  offensive  end  and  No.  4 
back  behind  the  center. 

This  formation  belongs  to  no  particular  coach- 
ing system.  Glenn  Warner,  present  coach  at 
Leland  Stanford  and  Gilmore  Dobie,  of  Cornell, 
have,  however,  made  consistent  use  of  this  style 
of  football  and  improved  upon  it. 

Glenn  Warner's  celebrated  "double  pass" 
started  from  this  play.  As  far  back  as  1906  he 
used  it  against  Princeton  while  coaching  at  Cor- 
nell. Later  he  used  it  very  effectively  for  years 
at  Pittsburgh. 

Gil  Dobie's  strongest  play  at  Cornell  has 
been  a  short  end  run  off  tackle  with  both  guards 


73- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


out  in  the  interference.  This  is  a  powerful  play 
and  very  hard  to  stop. 

Teams  pitted  against  this  play  with  an  unbal- 
anced line  and  tandem  backfield  realized  the  only 
way  it  could  be  stopped  was  by  shifting  the  de- 
fense. This  matched  strength  with  strength. 
Originally,  the  running  plays  from  this  forma- 
tion were  strongest  on  the  strong  offensive  side 
— but  as  the  defense  massed  against  the  unbal- 
anced line,  these  plays  were  effective  only  when 
the  defense  could  be  stopped  from  shifting  in 
time  to  meet  the  drive.  And  every  coach  tried  to 
devise  a  short  side  play,  strong  enough  to  gain 
consistently  against  a  shifted  defense. 

Warner  used  his  criss-cross  for  this  purpose. 
Dobie  used  a  fake  pass  with  the  No.  4  back  driv- 
ing off  the  short  side,  with  the  No.  2  and  3  backs 
sweeping  across  in  front  of  him.  Of  all  the  short 
side  plays  I  have  seen  the  criss-cross  over  a 
period  of  years  has  proved  the  most  successful. 

In  1925  Princeton  used  a  cut  back  to  the  short 
side  with  the  No.  3  back  carrying  the  ball.  This 
play  worked  beautifully  the  entire  season  but  we 
had  little  success  with  it  in  1926.  This  is  of  im- 
portance because  the  same  men  carried  the  ball. 
Joe  Prendergast  gained  considerable  ground 


74- 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


from  this  formation  in  the  Harvard  and  Yale 
games  of  1925. 

Today,  I  am  convinced  that  most  all  the  short 
side  plays  have  lost  their  potency  and  with  them 
marks  the  passing  of  the  unbalanced  tandem  for- 
mation. It  is  becoming  too  easy  to  stop. 

Warner  was  also  the  first  coach  who  realized 
this  and  immediately  discarded  his  old  forma- 
tions. In  its  place  he  substituted  a  modification 
with  a  wing  back  outside  of  each  tackle. 

1.  Old  Formation 

O  O  X  o  o  o  o 
o  o 
o 

o 

2.  New  Formation 

O  O  O  X  o  o  o 
o  o  o 

o 

Warner  has  used  his  new  formation  with  re- 
markable success  at  Stanford.  It  is  sound  in 
every  respect,  with  equal  running  strength  to 
both  sides.  It  spreads  the  defensive  line  and 
there  is  always  a  hole  somewheres. 


75- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


The  Navy  modelled  their  close  attack  in  1926 
after  the  new  Warner  formation.  In  my  opin- 
ion the  Navy  had  the  strongest  close  running  at- 
tack in  the  country.  The  beauty  about  this  for- 
mation is  that  it  is  possible  to  run  to  either  side. 
The  wing  back  outside  of  each  offensive  end 
spreads  the  defense  with  the  resultant  weakness 
somewhere  in  the  line. 

In  the  old  days  of  push  and  pull,  Yale  had 
for  many  years  the  strongest  close  attack  in  the 
country.  In  1923,  the  Yale  team  showed  a  very 
versatile  and  powerful  attack.  They  swept 
through  the  Army  and  Princeton  from  a  kick 
formation  play  with  a  split  line  on  the  strong 
side.  We  were  able  to  do  little  or  nothing 
against  this  offense.  Stevens  and  Neidlinger, 
a  great  pair  of  Yale  backs,  gained  consistently 
all  through  the  game. 

T  T 
O  O  X  O  O  O  O 

O  Richeson  O  Mallory 
O  Neale 
O  Stevens 

From  this  formation  it  was  equally  easy  to 
run,  kick  or  pass.  There  was  a  split  opening  be- 

76. 


By  Their  Plays  Ye  Shall  Know  Them 


tween  the  two  tackles  and  between  the  end  and 
outside  tackle.  Mallory  played  behind  the  sec- 
ond tackle.  He  worked  effectively  on  our  de- 
fensive tackle,  who  could  be  boxed  in  or  out  ac- 
cording to  his  position.  Either  Eicheson  or 
Neale  could  carry  the  ball  through  the  line,  with 
Stevens  in  a  splendid  position  to  run,  pass  or 
kick. 


77- 


Chapter  V 

BETWEEN  THE  HALVES  IN  A 
FOOTBALL,  GAME 

T  BELIEVE  a  good  many  football  games  are 
■  lost  by  the  way  in  which  the  team  is  handled 
right  before  the  big  games.  One  of  the  greatest 
mistakes  any  coach  can  make  is  to  give  his  players 
any  hard  work  the  day  or  so  before  the  game, 
or  attempt  to  teach  his  team  any  more  football 
in  those  closing  periods.  By  Thursday  the  team 
should  be  through  as  far  as  football  is  concerned. 
If  the  players  are  to  do  their  best  on  Saturday 
they  must  have  plenty  of  rest  the  day  before.  I 
am  beginning  to  think  it  a  mistake  to  have  any 
practice  at  all  on  Friday. 

Nor  do  I  believe  in  herding  the  players  to- 
gether at  some  out  of  the  way  place  the  night  be- 
fore the  game.  The  men  should  sleep  in  their 
own  beds  and  follow  their  usual  daily  routine.  I 
have  had  some  very  disastrous  experiences  in  fol- 
lowing any  other  plan.  And  have  become  con- 
vinced, the  more  the  importance  of  the  game  is 

78. 


Between  the  Halves 


magnified  beforehand  the  more  keyed  up  the 
average  boy  becomes  and  the  less  likely  to  do  his 
best  when  the  game  begins. 

There  are  of  course  some  simple  precautions 
every  coach  should  take,  I  believe  a  good  many 
games  are  lost  in  or  near  the  dressing-rooms  be- 
fore the  play  begins,  and  it  profits  a  coach  very 
little  to  gain  all  the  season  and  lose  his  cham- 
pionship merely  for  want  of  a  little  forethought 
about  what  seems  a  wholly  unimportant  detail. 

For  instance,  very  naturally,  as  the  game 
draws  near,  everybody  who  knows  any  member 
of  the  team  or  coaching  staff  becomes  possessed 
of  an  overpowering  desire  to  interview  him.  I 
suppose  it  is  inevitable  that  friends  who  have 
come  a  long  way  to  see  the  game  or  who  merely 
want  to  prove  to  themselves  and  their  com- 
panions that  they  really  do  know  somebody  on 
the  inside,  should  forget  that  by  intruding  at  this 
time  they  are  doing  their  level  best  to  beat  their 
team,  but  whatever  the  reason  it  is  decidedly  a 
part  of  winning  football  to  see  that  the  men  are 
absolutely  protected  against  this  thoughtless  dis- 
traction. 

I  have  seen  dressing-rooms  so  crowded  with 
outsiders  that  the  men  actually  were  cramped  for 
space,  and  some  of  these  interested  spectators  in- 


79- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


sisted  on  smoking,  while  others  bewailed  the  fact 
that  their  connection  with  the  assistant  rubber's 
third  cousin  had  not  enabled  them  to  get  a  seat 
on  the  fifty  yard  line  and  demanded  that  this  in- 
justice be  rectified  at  once.  One  gets  a  beautiful 
slant  on  the  human  sense  of  self-importance  on 
occasions  like  this.  It  is  really  more  difficult  than 
it  sounds  to  safeguard  a  team  of  boys  already 
under  a  high  nervous  tension  from  the  petty  an- 
noyances of  their  friends  and  of  overzealous  par- 
tisans who  make  up  for  their  lack  of  acquaintance 
by  a  vociferous  patriotism  which  takes  the  edge 
off  every  man's  determination  as  nothing  else 
can  do. 

It  is  really  an  essential  thing  to  get  a  man  on 
guard  at  the  door  of  the  quarters  who  is  not  only 
without  human  sympathies  but  has  the  authority 
necessary  to  hold  his  ground  against  old  players 
and  former  captains,  even,  who  seem  to  forget 
how  they  hated  these  visitations  in  their  own  day, 
and  are  bent  on  imparting  some  of  their  vintage 
ideas  to  the  coach  and  team  at  the  last  moment. 

Besides  being  absolutely  sheltered  from  dis- 
tractions, the  team  should  have  a  brisk  warming 
up  on  the  field.  This  preliminary  practice  should 
be  carefully  planned  out  ahead  of  time.  When 
the  players  are  on  the  field  they  should  be  get- 

80. 


Between  the  Halves 


ting  some  actual  practice,  not  just  loafing 
around.  A  short  regular  routine  will  help  every- 
body in  getting  used  to  the  crowd  and  the  feel 
of  the  ball.  The  ends  and  backs  should  have 
about  five  minutes  practice  in  receiving  passes, 
from  the  men  who  will  pass  in  the  game.  The 
backs  should  catch  punts  while  the  line  should 
be  given  some  slow  starts.  I  generally  figure  on 
a  work  out  of  about  ten  minutes.  Unless  it  is 
raining  when  the  practice  should  be  shortened. 
The  team  should  be  then  taken  from  the  field  for 
a  final  talk  with  the  coach,  in  which  the  old  line  of 
hysterical  adjurations  have  no  place  whatever. 
The  fighting  spirit  grows  best  in  a  quiet  atmos- 
phere of  earnestness,  and  will  profit  from  being 
permitted  to  suggest  itself  as  I  have  already  tried 
to  point  out.  This  last  conference  cannot  include 
any  new  football  teaching,  although  I  remember 
cases  in  which  it  was  used  for  exactly  that  pur- 
pose. With  me  this  last  talk  is  as  carefully  con- 
sidered beforehand  as  if  I  were  making  a  set 
address.  An  extemporized  burst  of  rhetoric 
won't  do.  Generally  speaking,  it  is  a  stimulus 
rather  than  an  admonition  that  I  aim  for,  and 
every  man  will  have  his  own  way  of  handling  the 
problem,  anyway.  I  know  that  some  coaches 
proceed  on  the  assumption  that  noise  has  its 

81. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


value  and  perhaps  it  has.  I  know  that  others 
make  a  practice  of  calling  in  old-time  heroes  or 
professional  graduates  given  to  spread-eagle  elo- 
quence to  use  these  final  minutes.  I  am  not 
arguing  against  them.  I  merely  describe  my 
own  idea  of  the  way  to  give  a  team  the  winning 
feel. 

Unconsciously  every  player  takes  his  cue  from 
the  coach  in  these  trying  minutes.  It  is  not 
enough  for  the  coach  to  have  his  own  nerves 
under  control  and  to  show  a  kind  of  cool  calm- 
ness which  is  the  best  index  of  confidence,  but  he 
must  also  know,  and  show  that  he  knows,  exactly 
what  is  to  be  done  by  everybody  at  every  minute. 
It  is  very  easy  to  let  some  minor  annoyance  dis- 
turb one's  equanimity,  and  the  ease  with  which 
this  can  happen  to  the  coach  is  an  excellent  proof 
of  the  harder  tension  on  the  men.  Somebody  is 
perfectly  certain  to  have  neglected  his  duty  some- 
where and  there  is  always  a  mass  of  trivial  things 
left  undone  or  done  wrong  by  rubbers  and  other 
assistants.  I  remember  seeing  one  coach  who  had 
held  himself  beautifully  in  check  until  a  few  mo- 
ments before  the  opening  whistle  suddenly  ex- 
plode in  a  frothing  rage  because  one  of  the  foot- 
balls was  insufficiently  inflated.  And  at  game 
after  game  I  have  watched  something  of  this  sort 

82. 


Between  the  Halves 


happen,  until  for  myself  I  am  on  very  vigilant 
guard  against  any  provocation. 

A  team  which  sees  its  leader  fly  off  the  handle 
over  a  missing  blanket  or  a  broken  shoe-lace  can- 
not be  blamed  for  showing  a  certain  uneasiness 
itself. 

The  best  way  of  avoiding  these  seemingly  triv- 
ial dangers  is  to  know  in  advance  what  one  is 
going  to  say  and  do  during  every  minute.  I  map 
out  the  time  well  ahead  and  stick  to  my  schedule 
like  a  limited  train.  This  applies  especially  to 
the  game  itself,  when,  although  I  am  not  in  di- 
rect charge  of  play  on  the  field,  I  am  still  vitally 
involved.  I  know  and  write  down  exactly  how  I 
am  going  to  make  substitutions  and  I  think  this 
over  about  as  carefully  as  if  it  were  our  most  im- 
portant play.  It  isn't  very  long  since  I  watched 
a  championship  thrown  away  by  a  mere  confu- 
sion in  a  single  substitution,  and  I  am  not  likely 
to  forget  it  for  a  long  time  to  come.  I  also  be- 
lieve it  is  good  policy  to  let  each  prospective  sub- 
stitute know  in  advance  which  man  he  will  re- 
place so  that  he  may  keep  a  closer  watch  on  that 
particular  player  and  his  opponent,  and  go  in, 
when  he  does  go,  better  equipped  than  the  first 
choice  could  be,  by  knowing  how  the  opponent 
behaves  on  the  field. 


83- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


In  line  with  this  same  plan,  I  carefully  prear- 
range the  seating  order  of  the  substitutes,  so  that 
those  who  play  one  position  will  be  grouped  to- 
gether and  under  instructions  to  watch  their  par- 
ticular predecessors  rather  than  the  general  play. 
I  always  keep  the  substitute  quarterbacks  beside 
me  and  discuss  with  them  as  the  play  proceeds 
the  merit  or  defect  of  strategy  and  tactics  as 
exhibited  by  the  first-string  man. 

This  attention  to  petty  detail  may  sound 
sordid,  as  if  winning  football  had  nothing  in  it 
except  a  passion  for  the  long  end  of  the  score.  I 
have  no  patience,  to  be  sure,  with  the  view  that  it 
is  in  some  fashion  unsportsmanlike  to  regard 
winning  as  a  trivial  detail  and  playing  as  the 
paramount  consideration.  Somehow  that  always 
sounds  to  me  like  a  rather  feeble  alibi  for  defeat, 
and  I  can't  help  noticing  that  the  people  who  talk 
most  about  it  when  they  lose  are  those  who  go 
frantic  with  delight  when  they  win.  But  it  is 
perfectly  true  that  the  right  attitude  toward  the 
game  I  call  winning  football  is  one  of  unweary- 
ing desire  to  play  the  best  that  is  in  the  player, 
win  or  lose,  and  I  conceive  that  these  seemingly 
minor  points  are  quite  as  vital  in  their  way  as 
the  mechanics  of  the  play  which  nobody  will  ever 

84. 


Between  the  Halves 


criticize  a  man  for  knowing  and  considering  and 
perfecting. 

I  have  been  writing  throughout  rather  from 
the  point  of  view  of  a  coach  who  has  assistants 
and  need  not  attend  in  person  to  every  part  of 
his  work.  Of  course,  there  are  instances  by  the 
hundred  in  which  one  man  has  to  do  all  the  coach- 
ing without  any  help  at  all,  and  his  job  becomes 
particularly  difficult  when  he  faces  his  champion- 
ship game.  No  one  man  can  possibly  watch  the 
individual  play  of  eleven  men  at  the  same  time 
closely  enough  to  know  when  any  one  of  them  is 
tired  or  weakening  or  hurt,  nor  can  one  man 
criticize  that  individual  play  intelligently  later 
on. 

All  good  football  players  have  or  acquire  a 
sort  of  pluck  which  is  admirable  in  itself  but  not 
always  sensible  or  discreet.  I  remember  watch- 
ing one  game  in  which  a  lineman  played  through 
several  minutes  with  a  broken  shoulder,  a  piece 
of  stark  heroism  which  I  should  hardly  believe 
myself  if  I  had  not  seen  it.  Fine  as  his  courage 
and  stoicism  were,  he  would  have  been  far  more 
useful  on  the  sidelines,  and  he  cost  his  team  fifty 
or  sixty  yards  before  his  overburdened  coach  be- 
came aware  of  the  truth.  That  coach,  too,  was  a 
very  competent  fellow,  and  the  incident  serves 

85. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


to  show  how  many  things  one  man  would  have  to 
watch  if  he  should  even  try  to  rely  on  his  unaided 
powers  of  observation.  I  advise  getting  assis- 
tance from  old  players,  or  friends  who  know  the 
game  or  even  substitutes  themselves  in  keeping 
a  close  individual  watch  on  every  man  on  the 
field,  not  only  to  be  informed  of  his  physical  con- 
dition but  to  judge  as  far  as  may  be  of  his  play 
and  its  possibilities  of  improvement.  Three  or 
four  good  men  can  easily  watch  the  individual 
play  of  the  eleven,  but  no  one  man  should  even 
attempt  it. 

During  the  first  half  I  believe  that  the  coach's 
job  is  chiefly  to  observe,  through  his  own  eyes 
and  others',  and  not  to  meddle  more  than  he 
must  with  the  leadership  of  the  eleven  on  the 
field.  If  you  have  not  managed  to  teach  your 
quarterback  and  captain  to  think  for  themselves, 
your  team  will  be  very  apt  to  be  beaten  before 
you  can  wigwag  orders  to  them  from  the  side- 
lines and  will  deserve  it,  too.  Such  intervention 
as  may  properly  fall  to  your  part  concerns  rather 
the  relief  of  wearying  players  and  the  choice  of 
men  to  replace  them  especially  since  the  adop- 
tion of  the  rules  allowing  a  player  to  leave  the 
game  and  later  return  to  it,  which  in  themselves 
open  up  a  very  considerable  field  for  sideline 

86. 


^3 


o 

■si 


5Si 
5* 


Between  the  Halves 


strategy  which  is  often  wholly  neglected.  A  sub- 
stitute going  out  on  the  field  must  always  be 
warned  again  about  reporting  to  the  officials  and 
avoiding  speech  with  the  other  players  until  after 
a  play  has  been  made.  Even,  so  there  will  be 
enough  instances  of  forgetfulness  to  satisfy  any- 
body. 

This  particular  rule  has  always  seemed  to  me 
the  most  futile  piece  of  academic  legislation  ever 
inflicted  on  the  game.  It  does  not  and  cannot 
conceivably  prevent  a  coach  from  communicating 
as  often  as  he  likes  with  his  men,  and  those  who 
believe  in  captaining  a  team  from  the  sidelines 
never  could  have  managed  it  by  sending  out  sub- 
stitutes as  couriers.  Instead,  it  involves  a  trying 
delay  at  every  substitution  and  suggests  to  the 
spectator  that  one  object  of  winning  football  is 
to  evade  or  break  the  rules  of  the  game  if  it  can 
be  done  without  detection.  Again,  it  seems  to 
work  an  injustice  which  its  sponsors  could  not 
have  foreseen,  in  the  recurrent  inability  of  a 
frantically  happy  substitute  to  remember  the 
penalty  for  a  perfectly  natural  action  or 
omission. 

I  have  absolutely  no  desire  to  win  distance 
and  still  less  to  win  games  because  such  a  thing 
happens  to  the  other  side,  and  naturally  I  have 

87. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


still  less  taste  for  losing  them  through  forgetf ill- 
ness on  ours.  Some  day  this  rule  will  go;  and  it 
will  be  good  for  the  game  when  it  does.  You 
cannot  ever  stop  sideline  coaching  until  you 
abolish  the  spectators  and  attempts  to  make  it 
more  difficult  are  merely  to  complicate  the  play 
and  penalize,  not  the  offender,  but  the  innocent 
and  forgetful  boy  who  if  he  had  a  message  to 
carry  illegitimately  would  certainly  not  break  the 
rule. 

There  is  one  and  only  one  way  of  stopping  a 
coach  from  trying  to  captain  his  team  during 
games,  and  that  is  a  beautifully  effective  one, 
which  requires  no  officials  and  no  rules.  It  lies 
here:  The  team  which  is  run  from  the  sidelines 
will  lose  every  time  against  fairly  even  opposi- 
tion trained  to  do  its  own  thinking.  The  quarter- 
back has  too  many  things  to  watch  on  the  field  to 
keep  his  eye  on  the  sidelines,  and  no  coach  can 
get  the  close  view  of  the  playing  positions  which 
is  essential  to  sound  field  tactics.  It  is  like  pass- 
ing laws  against  suicide.  They  never  prevent  the 
attempt  or  punish  the  successful  offender.  The 
only  infraction  they  can  reach  is  failure  to  offend. 
Getting  consistently  beaten  will  cure  any  bad 
habit  a  coach  can  acquire. 

One  thing  that  a  coach  can  and  should  do  is  to 

88. 


Between  the  Halves 


hold  his  own  stopwatch,  or,  better  still,  have  one 
held  for  him  by  somebody  close  by  who  is  com- 
petent to  do  it,  as  not  everybody  is.  Knowing 
exactly  how  the  time  stands  plays  a  heavy  part 
in  sideline  strategy,  especially  in  these  days  of 
quarter  periods  and  the  possibility  of  replacing 
a  tiring  player. 

The  fifteen-minute  interval  between  the  halves 
is  pure  gold  for  the  coach  who  knows  how  to  use 
it  and  a  time  of  trouble  and  defeat  for  the  man 
who  has  failed  to  realize  its  possibilities  in  each 
direction.  All  the  trials  of  the  preliminary  sus- 
pense are  multiplied  here.  For  every  intruder 
who  tries  to  break  in  before  the  game  there  will 
be  three  at  the  door  between  the  halves,  and  the 
man  who  would  be  merely  disorderly  in  the  first 
instance  is  apt  to  create  a  riot  now.  The  old 
player  has  smeiled  blood  and  powder  during  the 
first  half,  win  or  lose,  and  there  is  no  stopping 
him  once  he  gets  past  the  gate.  Bedlam  is  peace- 
ful compared  to  the  dressing  rooms  if  the  door  is 
not  double-barred  and  triple-guarded.  The  small 
boy  and  the  merely  inquisitive  spectator,  rein- 
forced by  amateur  Napoleons  each  with  an  un- 
stoppable play,  and  the  small  army  of  throat- 
itching  revivalists,  all  gather  hungrily  at  the  gate 
and  it  takes  not  only  watchful  waiting  and  armed 

89. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


neutrality,  but  a  downright  rupture  of  diplo- 
matic relations  to  avoid  their  inrush. 

My  own  memories  of  the  days  when  I  lay 
gasping  for  breath  and  found  that  all  the  avail- 
able air  was  already  in  use,  when  two  earnest  and 
ingeniously  profane  exhorters  bent  over  me  with 
conflicting  floods  of  asterisked  rhetoric,  are  still 
painful  memories  and  on  more  than  one  instance 
I  have  watched  a  two  touchdown  lead  wiped  out 
after  one  of  these  impromptu  camp-meetings. 

For  five  minutes  after  the  whistle  my  men  are 
guaranteed  absolute  and  undisturbed  rest  and 
quiet.  Not  one  man  gets  near  them  except  the 
trainer,  and  not  even  I  intrude  in  that  interval. 
However  good  their  condition,  the  strain  on  the 
nerves  is  enough  to  make  this  indispensable. 
When  I  contrast  the  difference  between  teams 
treated  like  this  and  those  subjected  to  the  in- 
describable tumult  and  shouting  of  my  own  play- 
ing days  I  wonder  how  anybody  could  have  failed 
to  draw  the  inference  for  himself  and  yet  I  still 
see  case  after  case  of  the  old-fashioned  methods 
whose  other  policies  are  far  from  foolish. 

Rightly  used  in  this  way,  five  minutes  will  fit 
a  team  to  listen  intelligently  to  criticism  and  sug- 
gestion directed  at  play  and  to  whatever,  emo- 
tional stimulus  seems  advisable.  These  five  min- 

90. 


Between  the  Halves 


utes  of  rest  for  the  team  provide  the  coach  with 
his  opportunity  to  get  reports  from  the  men  who 
have  been  detailed  to  watch  individual  play,  so 
that  when  he  does  talk  he  can  know  exactly  what 
he  ought  to  say  and  waste  no  time  in  beating 
about  broad  bushes.  It  helps  a  team  amazingly 
to  discover  that  their  coach  is  fiendishly  aware 
of  minor  happenings  on  the  field  and  they  play 
better  after  finding  it  out,  every  time. 

I  know  that  some  men  have  experimented  with 
the  alternative  of  keeping  the  team  on  the  field 
between  the  halves,  and  although  this  has  the  one 
advantage  of  making  sure  that  they  are  not 
breathing  bad  air,  I  think  it  never  pays.  The 
players  will  inevitably  stiffen  up.  They  hear  and 
see  too  much,  besides,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  miss  the  rest  and  relaxation  which  only  pri- 
vacy and  quiet  will  allow. 

There  used  to  be  a  general  idea  that  a  losing 
team  could  be  miraculously  heartened  by  a  scien- 
tific tongue-lashing  on  the  part  of  the  coach  or 
of  some  specially  selected  artist  in  invective  dur- 
ing this  rest  interval.  I  have  seen  it  work  my- 
self, but  on  more  occasions  I  have  seen  it  fail, 
and  for  my  part  I  prefer  not  to  use  the  device 
on  general  principles.  After  all,  an  atmosphere 
of  quiet,  business-like  directness  is  more  effective 


91. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


with  most  men,  and  they  profit  best  from  the  con- 
fidence and  liking  inspired  by  a  competent  critic 
and  leader.  I  dislike,  on  principle,  all  forms  of 
artificial  stimulation,  from  oratory  to  coffee,  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  game  ought  to  be  played 
by  mind  and  muscle  and  heart  rather  than  by 
unnatural  spurring  of  any  sort.  The  best  teams 
I  have  seen  have  uniformly  been  those  which 
were  cool  and  clear-headed.  The  charge  of  a 
merely  maddened  fanatic  is  a  mean  thing  to  stop,  ~ 
in  war  or  anywhere  else,  but  the  man  who  stops 
it  is  nearly  always  the  one  who  keeps  the  red  blur 
of  emotion  from  distorting  his  vision,  who  can 
fight  as  hard  as  the  dervish  but  does  not  let  go  of 
his  wits  to  do  it. 

Win  or  lose,  if  there  is  more  than  one  game  of 
the  championship  sort,  the  ensuing  interval  is  a 
hard  affair  to  meet,  and  this  is  far  harder  with  a 
defeated  team  than  with  a  winner,  naturally 
enough.  Even  a  winning  team  has  to  be  handled 
carefully  while  it  waits  for  the  next  game,  or  it 
will  go  astray  along  one  or  the  other  of  the  many 
easy  avenues  which  open  before  it — over-confi- 
dence, a  let-down  in  physical  condition,  or  any 
one  of  a  score  of  pitfalls  can  turn  a  sure  cham- 
pion into  a  sure  loser. 

During  this  gap,  if  we  have  won,  I  find  that 

92. 


Between  the  Halves 


there  will  be  bad  play  in  the  first  practice  scrim- 
mage, and  I  make  sure  of  one  fairly  long  session 
as  soon  as  possible  after  the  game,  to  get  all  this 
bad  play  out  of  the  team's  system,  so  to  speak, 
at  once.  In  the  main,  the  important  thing  is  to 
guard  against  a  let-down  born  of  too  much  work 
or  too  much  confidence.  And  it  is  also  important 
to  protect  the  team  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
well  meant  attentions  of  its  friends. 

With  a  losing  team,  the  task  is  to  recreate  and 
stiffen  confidence  even  more  than  to  correct  the 
faults  of  play  itself.  There  is  no  sovereign 
remedy  for  defeat  and  one  team  always  presents 
a  problem  different  from  those  offered  by  the 
others.  I  have  to  suit  my  method  to  my  men  and 
the  circumstances,  but  it  is  always  essential  to 
instill  cheerfulness  as  much  as  possible.  Defeat 
leaves  a  gloom  which  is  very  hard  to  dispel  and 
which  wet-blankets  mental  and  physical  energy 
as  nothing  else  will.  Here,  too,  the  men  have  to 
be  protected  steadily  against  outside  influence — 
against  sympathizers  who  account  for  defeat  in 
comforting  but  generally  misleading  fashion,  or 
earnest  admonishers  who  volunteer  suggestions 
often,  if  not  always,  at  variance  with  the  facts. 
After  the  final  game,  it  does  not  do  to  forget  that 
teams  may  come  and  teams  may  go  but  the  game 


93- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


goes  on  forever,  and  that  next  year's  champion- 
ship can  be  won  or  lost  in  this  year's  dressing 
room  or  train.  A  winning  team  means  diplo- 
matic management  or  it  will  let  enthusiasm  over- 
balance judgment  with  sometimes  very  bad  re- 
sults indeed,  and  a  losing  eleven  needs  even  more 
careful  handling  or  the  sting  of  defeat  will  leave 
scars  that  will  erTect  the  whole  coming  season. 


94. 


Chapter  VI 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FOOTBALL 

TT  is  impossible  to  train  any  football  team  by 
A  the  yardstick  and  get  the  best  results.  One  of 
the  most  important  things  for  a  coach  to  do  is  to 
study  his  squad  and  learn  the  dispositions  and 
temperaments  of  the  various  members  who  com- 
pose it.  When  he  has  done  this  he  has  something 
to  work  on. 

It  has  been  my  experience  that  most  football 
players  work  best  under  encouragement.  A  few 
have  to  be  driven,  but  not  many,  and  as  a  usual 
thing  a  good  word  will  accomplish  much  more 
with  the  average  boy  than  a  call-down.  I  have 
seen  players  ruined  by  improper  handling,  while 
a  mediocre  player  often  rises  to  great  heights  by 
being  touched  in  the  right  spot. 

I  remember  an  amusing  incident  that  hap- 
pened several  years  ago  at  Princeton.  We  had 
a  powerful  lumbering  fellow  on  the  team  who 
didn't  like  to  work  in  practice,  and  yet  he  was 
just  the  one  who  needed  the  work.   On  account 


95- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


of  his  great  strength  and  natural  ability  he  was 
indispensable  to  the  team, — if  he  could  be  gotten 
into  shape.  We  tried  everything:  put  him  on 
the  scrub,  and  even  put  him  off  the  team  en- 
tirely. But  nothing  seemed  to  work;  he  seemed 
to  sense  that  we  would  always  need  him  in  the 
end. 

At  last  I  went  to  him  one  day  and  said:  "We 
are  going  to  lay  off  the  captain  for  a  few  days, 
he  needs  a  rest,  and  I  want  you  to  captain  the 
team  this  week,  and  don't  forget  the  captain  has 
to  be  the  first  man  in  every  play." 

Our  plan  worked  like  a  charm.  That  after- 
noon and  all  week,  as  acting  captain,  he  worked 
like  a  Trojan.  And  as  a  result,  when  the  big 
games  came  around,  the  player  we  had  almost 
given  up  was  one  of  the  strongest  on  the  line. 

In  1925  we  decided  to  use  two  complete  sets 
of  backs  in  the  first  few  games,  alternating  their 
order  of  playing  in  each  game.  I  could  see 
Caulkins,  the  man  I  was  counting  on  to  play 
quarterback,  was  not  doing  himself  justice  in 
these  early  games.  I  was  a  bit  alarmed,  and  after 
thinking  the  matter  over,  went  to  him  and  ex- 
plained my  reason  for  playing  him  as  I  did.  He 
told  me  he  was  greatly  relieved,  as  when  we 
didn't  start  him  he  had  imagined  there  was  some- 

96. 


The  Psychology  of  Football 


thing  wrong  with  his  work,  and  try  as  he  would 
it  affected  his  play. 

On  the  spot  I  assured  him  the  coaches  were 
more  than  satisfied  with  the  way  he  was  playing, 
and  from  that  day  his  general  play  showed  a  big 
improvement.  Caulkins  ran  the  team  in  the 
Harvard  and  Yale  games  without  a  mistake,  and 
was  one  of  the  outstanding  players.  He  was  the 
type  of  player  who  always  tries  his  hardest.  Al 
Wittmer,  who  is  coaching  our  line  at  Princeton, 
was  another  of  this  type,  and  I  could  mention 
any  number  of  others.  It  is  ruination  to  push 
any  player  of  this  temperament.  They  thrive 
on  encouragement  and  light  work. 

I  am  a  great  believer  in  strict  discipline  on  the 
field.  If  the  practice  sessions  are  set  for  a  certain 
time  they  should  start  promptly  on  time.  No 
player  should  be  permitted  to  come  straggling  in 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  late.  I  think  it  is  a  good 
idea  to  call  the  roll  each  day  before  practice. 

Every  coach  should  insist  that  the  players  be 
on  time  for  meals  and  that  they  go  to  bed  at  a 
sensible  hour.  A  business-like  air  about  the 
field  breeds  confidence.  I  always  insist  that 
every  man  on  the  squad  live  up  to  the  very  letter 
of  the  training  rules.  I  don't  believe  the  coach 
should  be  a  detective  and  pry  into  what  the  fel- 


97- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


lows  are  doing  every  minute  of  the  day.  More 
will  be  accomplished  by  putting  the  players  on 
their  honor.  If  a  man  breaks  training,  he  should 
be  dismissed  instantly  from  the  squad, — the  coach 
who  attempts  to  temporize  with  this  sort  of  thing 
is  lost.  I  know  it  is  hard  to  fire  a  valuable  man, 
but  it  pays  every  time.  I  am  glad  to  say  my  ex- 
periences of  this  kind  have  been  few  and  far  be- 
tween. 

The  coach  should  know  what  he  is  going  to  do 
on  the  field  every  minute  of  the  time.  It  is  a 
good  idea  to  map  out  carefully  what  you  are  go- 
ing to  do  beforehand,  and  be  sure  you  stick  to 
your  set  program.  In  the  old  days  I  shall  never 
forget  how  the  coaches  would  come  out  on  the 
field  with  no  set  program,  and  just  flounder 
around  with  no  definite  idea  of  what  was  to  come 
next.  They  would  sometimes  disagree  as  to  the 
assignments  on  a  certain  play,  and  much  valuable 
time  would  be  lost  arguing  about  it  on  the  field. 
The  worst  thing  in  the  world  is  for  the  players  to 
lose  confidence  in  their  coaches.  If  the  coach  is 
on  his  toes  every  minute  of  the  practice  and  acts 
as  if  he  knew  what  he  was  doing,  the  players  will 
follow  him  enthusiastically.  But  he  must  know 
how  to  lead  and  how  to  organize  the  work. 

Every  man  on  the  squad  should  be  treated 

98. 


The  Psychology  of  Football 


alike ;  every  coach  should  guard  against  showing 
any  favoritism.  The  youngest  player  should  be 
made  to  feel  as  much  at  home  on  the  field  as  the 
veteran  of  several  seasons.  It  has  been  the  cus- 
tom for  years  at  Princeton  for  the  players  to  call 
the  coaches  by  their  first  names.  Personally  I 
think  it  is  a  good  idea.  I  have  never  seen  anyone 
become  familiar  on  the  field  with  any  coach  be- 
cause of  it.  Every  fall  some  of  the  new  men  are 
a  bit  diffident  about  doing  it.  And  I  always  make 
it  a  point  to  urge  them  to  do  so,  as  it  is  most  im- 
portant for  every  man  to  feel  he  is  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  rest. 

Several  years  ago  I  coached  at  The  University 
of  Missouri.  We  were  fortunate  enough  to  win 
the  Valley  Championship,  and  we  didn't  start  off 
the  season  with  any  too  promising  material 
either.  The  experiences  of  that  year  convinced 
me  that  it  is  not  always  the  best  material  that 
produces  the  best  football  teams.  What  every 
coach  should  work  for  is  to  get  every  man  to  put 
every  thing  he  has  in  him  into  his  play  every  min- 
ute of  the  time.  The  team  that  goes  on  the  field 
in  that  attitude  is  the  team  that  will  be  successful 
in  nine  out  of  ten  times. 

It  has  been  our  custom  at  Princeton  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  to  invite  President  Hibben  to  take 


99. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


dinner  with  the  team  some  evening  towards  the 
end  of  the  season.  He  always  gives  the  squad  a 
talk  and  his  visits  are  eagerly  looked  forward  to 
by  every  one. 

On  one  occasion  he  brought  out  how  important 
it  was  for  every  player  to  keep  his  mind  and  at- 
tention fixed  on  the  play  just  ahead  of  him. 
"Don't  think  particularly  about  the  next  half," 
he  said,  "but  fix  your  attention  on  the  next  play, 
and  try  to  do  your  best  in  that  play, — the  others 
will  take  care  of  themselves."  President  Hibben 
compared  the  proper  attitude  of  the  football 
player  to  the  attitude  of  a  golf  player  who  is  al- 
ways intent  on  the  next  shot, — if  it  is  a  bad  one 
he  should  forget  about  it  and  go  on  to  the  next 
one, — I  admit  this  is  mighty  hard  to  do, 
especially  in  golf.  This  it  seems  to  me  should  be 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  football  player.  To  go 
in  and  do  his  very  best  in  every  play. 

During  my  stay  at  Missouri  we  made  a  trip 
through  Iowa,  playing  two  games,  one  with  the 
University  of  Iowa,  and  the  other  with  the  Iowa 
Agricultural  University  at  Ames.  We  were 
fairly  successful  on  this  trip  and  made  a  better 
showing  than  any  Missouri  team  had  done 
against  these  two  opponents  for  several  years, 
i  oo. 


The  Psychology  of  Football 


That  fall  our  main  objective  was  the  University 
of  Kansas,  whom  we  played  Thanksgiving  Day. 

I  didn't  want  our  players  to  get  a  distorted 
idea  of  their  ability  from  the  result  of  these  two 
games.  The  team  that  gets  over-confident  is  the 
team  that  is  usually  beaten, — when  we  neared 
Columbia  I  heard  the  whole  undergraduate  body 
was  waiting  for  us  at  the  station  with  the  band. 
I  felt  this  would  have  a  bad  affect  on  the  players. 
So  when  we  got  within  about  six  miles  of  Co- 
lumbia, I  told  every  one  a  walk  would  do  him 
good  after  the  long  train  ride,  and  we  got  off 
the  train  and  hiked  in  the  back  way  and  missed 
the  celebration  entirely. 

Before  the  Yale-Princeton  game  at  "New 
Haven  in  1925,  Yale  was  a  top-heavy  favorite. 
They  had  swamped  a  strong  Army  team  a  few 
weeks  before.  This  same  Army  team  had  de- 
cisively beaten  Notre  Dame.  Every  sporting 
column  in  the  East  was  full  of  the  prowess  of 
this  wonderful  team,  and  no  one  conceded  that 
Princeton  had  an  outside  chance.  We  had  de- 
feated Harvard  36-0  the  week  before;  but  we 
had  beaten  Harvard  the  year  previous  and  then 
had  bowed  to  Yale;  so  there  were  few  who  held 
out  much  hope  of  our  winning  from  what  was  ad- 
mitted to  be  a  very  strong  Yale  team.  After 


IOI. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


the  Harvard  game  the  papers  said  we  might  put 
up  a  good  fight  but  that  would  be  all. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  had  a  very  strong  team, 
— one  that  everyone  except  those  who  had  fol- 
lowed it  closely  had  under-estimated.  I  felt  the 
team  hadn't  reached  its  peak  yet  and  that,  if 
properly  handled,  would  be  at  its  best  against 
Yale  on  Saturday.  I  could  see,  however,  our 
players  were  becoming  very  much  affected  by  all 
the  talk  about  the  unbeatable  Yale  team  and  they 
were  beginning  to  wonder  whether  they  had  any 
chance.  While  there  is  nothing  worse  than  over- 
confidence, — Tad  Jones  had  that  to  handicap 
him  at  New  Haven, — on  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
feriority complex  is  nearly  as  bad. 

I  made  up  my  mind  the  situation  demanded 
heroic  measures, — I  first  arranged  for  open  prac- 
tice on  Wednesday  before  the  game,  and  selected 
a  team  to  oppose  the  Varsity  composed  of 
coaches  and  the  strongest  substitutes.  We  in- 
vited the  entire  college  down  to  this  practice,  and 
to  ensure  a  big  attendance  we  had  a  big  meeting 
of  the  Key  men  beforehand  who  took  charge  of 
the  details.  I  have  never  seen  a  larger  or  more 
enthusiastic  attendance  at  any  practice  since  I 
have  been  coaching  at  Princeton. 

I  then  made  a  careful  analysis  of  the  Yale 

102. 


The  Psychology  of  Football 


Team  from  the  statistics  in  the  program  and 
compared  their  weights,  ages,  and  playing  rec- 
ords with  the  members  of  our  own  team.  I  found 
the  Yale  line  averaged  exactly  three  pounds  less 
than  our  own.  While  their  backfleld  was  a  trifle 
heavier,  all  in  all  there  was  no  difference  in  the 
weights  of  the  two  teams.  In  addition,  our  fel- 
lows were  just  as  old  and  had  practically  as  much 
playing  experience.  On  paper  there  was  no 
reason  why  Yale  should  overwhelm  us. 

The  practice  on  Wednesday  was  the  best  of  the 
year.  The  Varsity  had  no  difficulty  in  defeating 
the  scrub,  although  it  was  reinforced  with  Stan 
Keck,  Al  Wittimer,  Jack  Winn,  and  Buz  Stout, 
all  in  the  pink  of  condition  and  all  playing  their 
hardest.  After  the  practice  I  asked  Keck  what 
was  the  matter,  why  he  hadn't  been  more  success- 
ful in  stopping  the  Varsity  plays,  he  exclaimed : 
"Why  six  men  seemed  to  hit  me  at  once."  So  I 
felt  the  team  was  in  pretty  good  shape. 

The  next  day  I  called  a  meeting  of  the  team 
and  went  over  the  Yale  statistics,  man  for  man, 
and  compared  them  with  our  own  team.  There 
showed  that  our  line,  which  everyone  said  was 
much  inferior,  was  in  reality  heavier  than  the 
Yale  line  and  just  as  old.  I  then  asked  why  Yale 
should  be  such  a  top-heavy  favorite?  "There 

103. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


are  only  eleven  men  on  each  side,"  I  said.  "As 
you  are  not  spotting  the  Yale  team  a  thing  when 
it  comes  to  physical  qualifications,  why  should 
they  be  such  a  top-heavy  favorite?" 

I  could  see  that  what  I  said  had  made  an 
impression,  and  the  entire  attitude  of  our  fellows 
changed.  From  that  time  on  they  had  an  air  of 
cool  confidence  about  them  that  was  most  reas- 
suring. 

The  hardest  job  a  coach  can  have,  however,  is 
to  combat  over-confidence.  It  is  more  insidious, 
and  has  demoralized  more  teams  than  anything 
else.  Nothing  alarms  me  more  than  to  have  a 
team  I  am  coaching  go  into  a  big  game  a  favorite. 
The  records  are  full  of  games  lost  by  the  teams 
that  should  have  won  easily  on  past  perform- 
ances. We  had  such  a  situation  at  Princeton 
as  far  back  as  1897.  Princeton  had  a  veteran 
team  composed  of  stars.  Two  weeks  before  the 
Yale  game  they  swamped  a  supposedly  power- 
ful Lafayette  team  57-0.  Yale  was  weak  that 
year, — or  so  considered.  They  had  been  beaten 
by  Brown  just  before  the  Princeton  game.  The 
Tigers  went  to  New  Haven  supremely  confident ; 
their  only  doubt  was  as  to  the  size  of  the  score. 
From  the  start  of  the  game  Princeton  was  out- 
played and  Yale  won  6-0. 

104. 


"RED"  GRANGE 
Most  talked  of  player  in  football  history. 


The  Psychology  of  Football 


In  1924  Princeton  defeated  Harvard  34-0,  and 
the  next  week  lost  to  Yale  10-0.  All  week  before 
the  Yale  game  I  tried  my  hardest  to  convince  the 
members  of  our  team  that  Yale  would  play  a  ter- 
rific game.  In  a  way  the  players  realized  it 
themselves,  but  they  couldn't  forget  the  ease 
with  which  they  had  run  up  a  big  score  the  week 
before,  and  they  felt  they  could  do  it  again. 
When  the  game  started  it  took  Yale  about  five 
minutes  to  demonstrate  they  couldn't. 

Football  coaches  the  country  over  have  appre- 
ciated the  value  of  Phychology  and  Jesse 
Hawley  of  Dartmouth,  a  few  years  ago,  of- 
ficially introduced  it  by  inviting  a  professor  of 
psychology  to  talk  to  his  football  players. 

Professor  Henry  T.  Moore,  of  the  department 
of  psychology  at  Dartmouth,  gave  the  football 
men  a  new  and  interesting  slant  on  their  sport. 
Such  phrases  as :  indirect  vision,  somatic  percep- 
tion, reaction  time,  were  brought  out  during  the 
talk.  "Reaction  time"  probably  meant  nothing 
to  some  of  the  men  before  Prof.  Moore  explained 
that  there  is  an  exact  instant  when  an  athlete, 
after  hearing  a  command  to  action,  is  ready  to 
respond  with  the  utmost  of  his  strength  and  skill, 
— that  he  can  give  only  a  portion  of  his  powers 

105. 


/ 

Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


when  forced  to  act  before  that  instant  arrives  or 
after  it  has  passed. 

The  margin  of  victory  is  always  a  mental  one 
between  teams  of  even  reasonably  equal  merit. 
The  element  of  luck,  to  which  so  many  unex- 
pected defeats  and  triumphs  are  attributed,  is, 
more  often  than  not,  a  mere  manifestation  of 
mental  difference.  It  is  not  the  lucky  team  which 
wins,  but  the  slow-witted  eleven  which  loses. 

The  problem  of  modern  football  is  first  and 
always  to  outwit  the  defense,  to  surprise  the  of- 
fense. And  the  team  capable  of  utilizing  not 
merely  brain  and  brawn,  but  the  subtle  quality 
referred  to  as  psychology  has  more  than  an  even 
break  of  coming  through  a  winner. 


106. 


Chapter  VII 

ANY  BOY  CAN  BE  A  FOOTBALL  PLAYER 

Hp  HE  normal  American  boy  with  a  healthy 
longing  to  play  on  his  school  or  college 
football  team  often  holds  back  because  he  is 
small  in  stature,  lacking  in  weight  or  natural 
ability. 

I  sincerely  believe  that  the  average  healthy 
youngster,  all  things  being  equal,  can  be  devel- 
oped into  a  football  player  capable  of  holding 
down  a  varsity  job.  There  is  no  trick  in  it. 
Football  players,  even  the  best  of  them,  didn't 
just  happen  to  step  out  on  a  college  gridiron 
and  find  themselves  great  players. 

Football,  within  its  limitations,  is  a  craft,  an 
art.  A  boy  with  an  abundance  of  natural  ability 
must  be  carefully  trained  to  meet  its  rigid  re- 
quirements; just  like  the  young  violinist,  poet, 
actor  or  golfer.  Every  boy  has  his  individual 
problem.  He  may  be  lacking  in  endurance, 
speed  and  initiative.  He  may  be  awkward, 
clumsy  and  lazy.    There  is  always  something 

107. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


to  be  overcome  when  one  is  young  and  plas- 
tic. 

Athletic  history  is  filled  with  examples  of 
subnormal  boys  who  have  developed  into  vigor- 
ous men.  Likewise,  many  puny  youngsters  have 
made  themselves  into  champions,  or  near  cham- 
pions, by  diligently  applying  themselves. 
Bobby  Jones,  the  most  wonderful  golfer  in  the 
world,  is  an  outstanding  example.  At  a  tender 
age,  his  very  life  was  all  but  despaired  of  by  a 
physician.  His  parents  were  told  he  must  have 
outdoor  exercise.  They  moved  near  a  golf  club, 
and  then  Bobby  started  to  develop. 

Don  Lourie,  picked  by  Walter  Camp  in  1920 
for  his  All- America  Football  quarterback,  was 
a  slight,  fragile  looking  boy  whom  most  people 
would  have  believed  unfitted  for  football.  He 
had  speed,  intelligence  and  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  game.  Through  inquiries  I  learned  that 
he  had  played  with  a  football  from  the  time 
he  could  kick  it,  and  that  helped  to  overcome  all 
physical  disabilities. 

Frank  Murray,  one  of  the  surest  drop-kickers 
I  have  ever  seen,  began  in  childhood  and  taught 
himself  to  kick  by  practicing  in  his  back  yard  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee.  He  was  not  strong,  but 
liked  the  game.   His  father  erected  a  goal  post 

108. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


in  his  yard  and  bought  Frank  a  football.  The 
boy  practiced  kicking  by  the  hour.  As  a  result, 
he  developed  physically,  and  when  he  went  to 
college,  he  could  drop-kick  a  goal  at  almost  any 
angle. 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  only  big, 
brawny  men  have  a  chance  to  excel  in  football. 
We  have  only  to  look  back  over  the  records  and 
find  that  many  men  small  and  puny  have  been 
stars  of  the  first  rank. 

The  Poe  brothers  of  Princeton— Johnny,  Ar- 
thur and  Nat — were  stars  back  in  the  golden 
nineties  when  close  formations  and  mass  attacks 
put  a  premium  on  strength  and  bulk.  In  the 
last  few  years  the  little  fellows  are  creeping  into 
the  headlines  as  stars  all  over  the  country.  Uter- 
itz,  of  Michigan;  "Andy"  Thompson,  of  Penn; 
Gorman,  of  Princeton;  Way,  of  Penn  State; 
Dinsmore,  of  Princeton ;  Goodwine,  of  Yale  and 
Buell  of  Harvard  are  a  few  of  the  most  out- 
standing. 

There  is  a  place  for  every  type  of  boy  on 
a  football  team.  If  he  has  a  fighting  heart, 
the  right  spirit,  and  the  determination  to  work, 
he  will  not  be  ignored,  no  matter  if  he  is  lacking 
in  some  physical  qualification. 

I  believe  in  giving  not  merely  a  warm  wel- 


109. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


come  to  every  man  who  presents  himself  at  the 
field-house,  but  in  putting  a  special  and  careful 
effort  on  the  candidates  who  show  little  imme- 
diate promise.  Some  of  the  best  players  ever 
developed  were  drawn  from  this  group  of  men — 
men  who  had  failed  to  make  prep-school  teams 
because  of  relatively  slow  development,  and  who 
as  freshmen  or  sophomores  were  still  well  behind 
their  mates  in  football  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence. Such  boys  are  sometimes  slow  to  take  hold 
on  the  field  and  the  first  impulse  of  a  coach  dis- 
tracted with  trying  to  distinguish  between  a 
hundred  strange  faces,  is  to  clarify  his  problem 
by  eliminating  them  at  once.  There  could  hardly 
be  a  more  serious  blunder. 

The  experienced  and  confident  player  is  sure 
of  himself  and  knows  a  little  of  what  is  to  be 
done,  but  the  beginner  feels  shy  and  strange.  He 
needs  encouragement  not  only  for  his  own  sake 
but  for  the  effect  on  the  rest  of  the  squad.  No 
coach  can  afford  to  give  anybody  a  legitimate 
reason  for  feeling  slighted.  Such  grievances 
damage  the  morale  more  effectively  than  any- 
thing else.  To  pick  an  eleven  on  the  first  day 
or  in  the  first  week  is  impossible  and  unwise. 

I  like  to  see  competition  for  places  on  my 
teams  alive  and  keen  right  up  to  the  final  games, 

no. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


and  this  cannot  be  done  except  by  keeping  the 
slower  learners  interested  and  eager.  There  is 
always  a  possibility,  too,  that  one  of  them  will 
suddenly  develop  into  first  class  material. 

Every  year  some  man  is  discovered  at  Prince- 
ton. Last  season  it  was  Lawler,  an  end.  The 
year  before,  Hull,  a  halfback. 

These  men  toiled  with  the  scrubs  day  in  and 
day  out  and  finally  showed  enough  ability  to  land 
varsity  jobs. 

According  to  Alonzo  Stagg,  relatively  small 
men,  weighing  160  pounds  or  less,  have  been  the 
most  spectacular  players  Conference  football 
has  produced.  Eckersall  weighed  only  132  when 
he  reported  on  the  squad,  and  never  more  than 
145.  His  successor,  Wallie  Steffen,  Rollie  Wil- 
liams of  Wisconsin,  Oliphant  of  Purdue  and  the 
Army,  Pete  Russell,  Paddy  Driscoll  of  North- 
western, Chick  Harley  of  Ohio  State,  John  Mc- 
Govern  of  Minnesota,  Harold  Porgue  and  his 
Illinois  co-star,  Pottsy  Clark,  Kipke  of  Michi- 
gan— all  were  in  this  class.  Aubrey  Devine  and 
Grange  weighed  170  and  175,  respectively. 

The  smaller  man  carries  his  weight  in  better 
balance,  is  more  agile,  usually  more  graceful. 
Running  with  a  shorter  stride,  he  can  check, 

nr. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


pivot,  swerve,  stop  and  get  underway  without 
loss  of  speed  or  balance. 

Stagg  favors  men  who  have  football  imagina- 
tion, who  are  able  to  lose  themselves  in  the  drama 
of  the  game.  He  believes  that  football 
players  are  born,  not  made.  "Certainly,"  he 
says,  "physical  attributes  enter  into  being  a  foot- 
ball player,  but  a  manufactured  tackle  or  full- 
back always  will  remain  an  automaton,  a  me- 
chanical player. 

"When  I  can  possibly  do  without  such  a  player 
I  won't  have  him  around." 

Coach  "Hurry  Up"  Yost,  of  Michigan  gives 
five  qualities  which  make  the  football  player. 
They  are: 

Determination. 

Perseverance. 

Co-ordination. 

Brains. 

Strength. 

They  are  within  the  grasp  of  anyone  seeking 
football  honors — all  can  be  developed,  except, 
possibly,  strength,  and  that  certainly,  can  be  in- 
creased. 

"As  to  natural  qualifications,"  says  Yost, 
"You  may  reverse  the  order.    The  first  thing  a 

112. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


coach  seeks  in  a  candidate  is  not  strength  but 
the  determination  to  do.  The  strong,  brainy, 
perfectly  co-ordinated  boy  is  not  an  athlete  un- 
less he  possesses  the  determination  and  willing- 
ness to  persevere.  And  the  greatest  athletes  are 
not  the  strongest  or  the  biggest  or  the  smartest. 

"By  determination  is  meant  the  quality  found 
in  every  great  athlete  which  enabled  him,  by 
sheer  force  of  will,  to  do  the  seemingly  impossi- 
ble when  the  occasion  demands. 

"The  hardest  thing  to  find  is  the  boy  who  has 
the  mental  and  moral  courage,  the  ability  and 
determination  to  do  a  thing  well,  and  certain  to 
do  his  best  when  the  mental  pressure  is  the  great- 
est— in  the  heat  of  stiff  competition. 

"Willie  Heston,  who  I  believe,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  football  players,  had  no  power  of  en- 
durance when  he  reported  for  football.  He  tired 
very  quickly  and  was  out  of  wind  in  a  short  time. 
But  Heston  was  one  of  those  boys  who  gritted 
their  teeth,  and  showed  that  he  was  determined 
to  overcome  his  shortcoming. 

"Heston  was  an  indefatigable  worker  when  he 
acquired  wind  and  the  necessary  endurance.  In 
one  season  he  was  seemingly  tireless  and  always 
possessed  enough  reserve  power  to  carry  him 
through  for  an  extra  yard  when  needed. 


"3- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


"Harry  Kipke  was  another.  The  captain  of 
the  1923  championship  team,  was  the  most  valu- 
able punter  who  ever  wore  the  Michigan  colors. 

"This  just  didn't  happen.  Kipke  had  athletic 
ability  by  nature  and  became  the  games's  great- 
est kicker  by  paying  a  price  few  boys  are  willing 
to  pay. 

"Kipke's  greatness  was  his  ability  to  place 
punts  exactly  where  he  wanted  them.  This  abil- 
ity was  a  result  of  hours  upon  hours  of  practice. 
Kipke  has  practiced  kicking  a  football  ever  since 
he  has  been  able  to  hold  on  to  one.  Even  after 
he  entered  college  he  took  a  football  with  him  on 
vacations  and  practiced  kicking  from  all  angles. 
Little  wonder  he  became  a  famous  kicker!" 

"It  is  impossible  to  weigh  determination,  cour- 
age, grit  and  perseverance  on  a  scale.  Yet  they 
are  the  things  which,  blended  together,  make  the 
sterling  football  player." 

"Natural  ability"  maintains  Lawson  Robert- 
son, the  veteran  trainer  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  "is  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the 
battle  in  winning  a  place  on  a  football  team. 

"The  remaining  twenty-five  per  cent  comes 
under  the  head  of  application.  Men  endowed 
with  natural  athletic  ability  who  are  willing  to 
114. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


apply  themselves  to  their  game  should  soon  be- 
come adept  at  it. 

"In  this  classification,  spirit  and  determina- 
tion are  combined.  If  the  aspiring  athlete  does 
not  have  the  right  spirit  and  heart  and  strength 
of  will  to  'dig  in'  he  will  not  make  good.  He 
might  as  well  put  his  athletic  ability  in  his  back 
pocket. 

"Under  application  also  comes  discipline. 
And  this  means  insistent  following  of  definite 
training  rules.  Self  effacement  and  the  sinking 
of  too  much  ego  are  essential  to  success." 

Lawson  Robertson  prefers  the  type  of  athlete 
with  the  deep  chest.  This  "barreled  type"  of 
man  has  the  necessary  endurance,  the  power,  to 
come  through  in  a  pinch. 

"These  slim  fellows,"  he  says,  "just  haven't 
got  any  place  to  pack  it  in.  You've  simply  got 
to  have  some  place  to  store  the  reserve  power — 
plenty  of  lung  space." 

The  late  Walter  Camp,  dean  of  American 
sportsmen,  in  advising  a  boy  with  athletic  aspi- 
rations but  woefully  lacking  in  physical  qualifica- 
tions, said:  "The  boy  with  a  narrow  chest  is 
automatically  dropped  from  the  football  squad 
and  other  athletic  teams,  not  because  he  cannot 
be  developed  into  a  strong,  athletic  man,  but  be- 

H5- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


cause  the  coaches  have  not  the  time  to  develop 
him.  If  he  started  four  years  before  entering 
college  to  develop  his  chest,  he  might  have  been 
kept  on  the  varsity  squad  when  he  tried  for  the 
team  and  developed  himself  into  a  great  athlete." 

Fathers  and  mothers  can  help  their  boys  to 
become  healthy,  vigorous  football  players.  Here 
are  a  dozen  rules  which  the  parents  may  follow 
in  assisting  the  youngster: 

First:  Have  competent  physicians  and  den- 
tists watch  his  physical  condition. 

Second:  Give  him  good,  clean  athletes  for 
hero  worship. 

Third:  Encourage  him  in  home  work,  a 
simple  routine  for  which  is  included  below. 

Fourth :  Watch  his  food ;  make  him  eat  slowly 
and  with  regularity;  and  do  not  permit  him  to 
play  immediately  after  meals. 

Fifth:  Stress  the  playing  of  football,  base- 
ball, and  tennis  and  see  that  his  playing  field  is 
properly  laid  out. 

Sixth:  Be  sure  he  gets  plenty  of  sleep. 

Seventh:  See  that  he  takes  a  bath  after  each 
game  or  exercise. 

Eighth:    Require  him  to  play  with  boys  his 
own  weight. 
116. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


Ninth:  Do  not  permit  him  to  play  when  in- 
jured. 

Tenth:  Prevent  him  from  "babying"  him- 
self. 

Eleventh :  Teach  him  to  be  a  good  sportsman. 
Twelfth:   Correct  any  awkwardness  or  clum- 
siness. 

Any  boy  with  the  love  of  a  game  can  become 
adept  at  that  game,  provided  the  youngster  is 
started  right.  The  first  duty  of  parents  is  to  see 
that  the  boy  is  in  shape  to  play  the  game  he  is 
interested  in.  It  is  most  important  that  every 
boy  should  be  carefully  examined  by  a  compe- 
tent physician  before  he  is  allowed  to  play  a 
game  like  football.  A  dentist  should  also  look 
his  teeth  over. 

Between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen  there  are 
weaknesses  in  some  youngsters,  not  necessarily 
organic,  which  would  certainly  prove  danger- 
ous to  a  boy  playing  such  a  game  as  football. 

I  have  a  son  thirteen  years  old.  For  several 
years  I  have  had  him  examined  regularly  by  one 
of  the  best  doctors  of  Philadelphia.  I  have  his 
eyes  examined  a£  the  same  time  by  an  oculist; 
and  twice  a  year  he  is  sent  to  the  dentist.  The 
results  of  the  various  examinations  are  submitted 
to  me  and  I  keep  a  chart  index  of  my  boy's 


117. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


weight  and  height.  To  date,  I  am  glad  to  say,  I 
have  caught  nothing  but  a  bad  pair  of  tonsils: 
and  since  they  have  been  removed  my  son  has 
shown  much  more  endurance. 

This  petty  attention  to  details  about  his  health 
may  sound  silly  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  regard 
it  as  the  most  important  thing  a  father  can  do 
for  his  boy.  Certainly  no  one  wants  to  encour- 
age his  son  to  play  football  and  then  find  out 
that  the  youngster  has  a  weak  heart. 

Fine  players  in  all  games  are  not  essentially 
men  of  the  heroic  type,  but  those  possessed  of 
the  "feel"  and  love  of  the  game.  That  is  what 
the  parent  should  endeavor  to  develop  in  a  boy, 
rather  than  unusual  skill.  Once  a  boy  is  imbued 
with  the  spirit,  the  love,  and  "feel"  of  the  game, 
it  becomes  easy  to  bring  him  to  stardom. 

Also,  he  should  be  accustomed  to  the  imple- 
ments of  the  game.  In  football,  the  boy  should 
be  given  a  uniform  and  ball.  He  should  be  en- 
couraged to  run,  kick,  catch,  and  pick  up  the  ball 
until  it  becomes  a  second  nature  with  him. 

Take  a  boy  to  see  good  games  and  encourage 
him  to  read  of  them.  Stimulate  his  interest  in 
every  possible  way.  If  your  boy  is  clumsy  or 
awkward  encourage  tennis,  swimming  and  base- 
ball, as  well  as  skating,  dancing  and  calisthentics. 

118. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


The  most  awkward  boy  can  be  made  into  some- 
thing like  symmetry  by  early  attention  and  the 
inculcation  of  the  love  of  the  game.  Symmetry, 
co-ordination,  spirit  and  love  of  the  game  mean 
more  than  hard  muscles.  And  I  believe  this  ease 
and  grace,  as  well  as  what  is  termed  the  ability 
of  the  natural  player  of  any  game  is  nothing  but 
the  development  of  that  player  from  childhood. 

It  is  extremely  important  that  the  young  boy 
allowed  to  play  football  should  be  pitted 
against  those  of  his  own  size  and  weight.  The 
father  should  investigate  the  teams  with  which 
his  boy  plays  and  see  that  the  weight  rule  is 
strictly  enforced.  Once  a  youngster  reaches  the 
high-school  or  college  age  the  difference  in  weight 
is  not  irnportant.  For  boys  under  fifteen,  how- 
ever, it  is  a  very  serious  matter. 

Football  develops  initiative,  courage  and  team- 
play.  It  is  a  democratic  game  in  every  sense  of 
the  word  and  no  boy  is  going  to  make  his  school 
or  college  team  because  of  his  wealth  or  social 
position.  He  is  going  to  make  it  on  his  own 
merits. 

After  every  football  season  we  find  the  news- 
papers filled  with  increasing  stories  about  the 
improved  scholastic  standing  of  the  football 
team.    Jake  Slagle,  of  Princeton,  and  Larry 

119. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Noble  of  Yale,  have  publicly  announced  that 
they  study  better,  feel  better,  while  engaged 
regularly  in  some  kind  of  sport.  Both  of  these 
men  are  three  letter  athletes  and  leaders  in  their 
respective  schools. 

The  explanation  of  this  is  easy.  The  athlete, 
in  the  modern  college,  is  respected  only  if  he 
maintains  good  grades,  keeps  fit  and  clean  all  the 
year  around,  and  realizes  that  the  undergradu- 
ates expect  of  him  a  kind  of  behavior  consistent 
with  his  prominence  and  popularity.  This  job  of 
keeping  out  of  mischief  and  staying  sound  in 
mind  and  body  is  enormously  simplified  for  him. 
And  yet  he  spends  his  time  among  those  who  are 
sometimes  lazy  and  foolish  in  their  ideas  of  man- 
liness and  conduct. 

The  right  football  spirit  in  any  school  re- 
quires that  every  man  who  even  hopes  to  play 
on  the  team  shall  stand  well  in  his  classes  and  be- 
have himself  outside  of  them,  in  season  and  out. 
I  have  seen  this  influence  work  like  a  miracle  on 
men  who,  wanting  the  support  and  restraint  of 
their  fellows'  opinions,  had  proved  impossible  for 
faculty  or  coach  to  manage. 

Of  course  there  are  some  who  will  go  wrong. 
Several  years  ago  there  was  at  Princeton  a  great 
drop-kicker  who  made  a  great  name  for  himself 

120. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


in  one  season.  It  went  to  his  head  and  he  fre- 
quented the  nearby  cities,  indulged  in  all  kinds 
of  easy  living,  and  before  he  wised  up,  he  had 
flunked  out  of  college. 

I  try  and  avoid  this  type  of  boy  when  selecting 
my  players,  what  I  look  for  at  first,  as  I  study 
my  men,  is  that  quality  best  described  as  ability 
to  handle  oneself — -a  close  correlation  between 
mind  and  muscle  which  manifests  itself  in  bal- 
ance, speed — perhaps  one  might  say — rhythm  or 
grace.  This  is  not  the  most  important  quality 
but  it  is  the  most  vital  of  these  which  are  visible 
on  short  acquaintance.  The  natural  football 
player  has  a  tremendous  start  on  the  others,  in 
his  mere  ability  to  make  his  hands  and  feet  and 
body  do  what  his  brain  directs  and  do  it  quickly 
with  a  minimum  of  wasted  effort. 

Next,  I  try  and  find  men  with  nerve  and  cheer- 
fulness, who  do  not  complain  too  readily  of  minor 
bumps  and  bruises.  Any  one  who  is  inclined  to 
be  sorry  for  himself  on  slight  provocation  is 
pretty  sure  not  to  make  a  good  football  player, 
however  well  he  may  be  equipped  otherwise  for 
what  ever  the  modifications  applied  to  football, 
they  have  not  lessened  the  demands  on  grit  and 
courage  and  endurance.  If  they  had,  I  for  one 
would  want  no  more  of  it. 


121. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


A  few  years  ago  we  had  at  Princeton  a  great 
athlete  known  from  coast  to  coast  for  his  achieve- 
ments. He  was  the  kind  of  a  fellow  who  could 
do  almost  anything  well.  I  remember  one  in- 
stance when,  for  no  reason  at  all,  he  stepped  out 
on  the  fifty  yard  line  with  two  footballs  and  said 
he  would  drop-kick  one  over  each  goal  post. 

He  did.  And  with  a  grand  gesture  walked 
off  the  field,  leaving  a  squad  of  intensely  an- 
noyed football  men  staring  at  his  broad  back  as 
it  disappeared  into  the  dressing  room. 

There  was  no  reason  for  this  display  of  kick- 
ing prowess  for  the  fellow  lacked  something 
which  made  him  of  any  use  until  he  got  all  the 
brass  knocked  out  of  him.  And  it  was  not  until 
his  senior  year  that  he  came  around  and  played 
the  game  he  was  capable  of  playing. 

On  every  squad  there  are  a  few  men  whose 
instinct  is  to  produce  a  ready  alibi  and  to  start 
an  argument  over  every  mistake  they  make.  It 
would  be  pleasant  to  send  such  men  back  to  golf, 
the  birthplace  and  natural  habitat  of  the  whole 
Alibi  family,  but  this  will  not  serve,  for  some  of 
the  best  natural  football  men  I  have  ever  handled 
have  had  this  habit  in  its  extreme  degree.  The 
only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  cure  them  as  quickly 
and  as  thoroughly  as  may  be,  and  patience  and 


122. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Flayer 


diplomacy  only  aggravate  the  disease.  A  quick 
operation  of  down-right  rebuke  is  the  only  effec- 
tive measure  I  know  and  it  sometimes  helps  to 
administer  this  treatment  in  public.  It  cures 
more  than  one  patient  at  a  time. 

There  is  another  type  of  player  who  is  a  thorn 
in  any  coach's  basket  of  roses.  The  unimagina- 
tive boy  who  is  perfect  physically  but  lacks  the 
fire  and  spirit  to  rise  to  a  fighting  pitch  in  a 
game.  I  remember  one  big,  burly  lineman  we 
had  several  seasons  back  who  was  perfect  in  the 
technic  of  line  play,  who  did  everything  you 
asked  him  to,  always  tried  to  please,  but  who 
refused  to  take  his  football  seriously  and  only 
played  because  he  thought  his  weight,  speed  and 
ability  were  needed  on  the  team.  Also,  he  liked 
the  companionship  of  his  mates. 

Personally,  I  would  rather  have  a  less  perfect 
player  who  played  in  every  game  every  minute, 
was  up  to  his  neck  in  the  spirit  of  the  thing  and 
played  as  though  he  loved  it. 

The  real  football  player,  never  feels  his 
bruises.  He  is  enjoying  every  minute  of  play. 
The  hotter  the  battle,  the  more  his  body  glows 
with  a  physical  exaltation  and  his  nerves  thrill 
to  the  impact  of  flesh  against  flesh. 

With  football  of  today  a  game  of  skill,  intelli- 

123. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


gence  and  speed,  the  quick-thinking  lad  with  the 
perfectly  co-ordinated  muscles  is  on  a  par,  if  not 
superior  to,  the  bigger  and  slower  man. 

The  best  example  of  a  real  modern  football 
team  was  the  great  1924  Notre  Dame  eleven. 
The  backfleld,  composed  of  Stuldreher,  Miller, 
Crowley  and  Layden,  were  fast,  light  men;  great 
on  the  offense  and  steady  on  the  defense. 

This  entire  first  team  averaged  168  pounds, 
the  second  team  178  pounds  and  the  third  team 
was  still  heavier.  But  everyone  of  the  Four 
Horsemen  could  run  a  hundred  yards  between 
9-4-5  and  10  2-5  seconds. 

With  the  growing  importance  attached  to  the 
forward  pass,  the  daring  open  style  of  play, 
small  men  all  over  the  country  are  making  big 
reputations  so  that  the  size  or  build  as  a  neces- 
sary factor  in  football  is  being  discarded. 

Out  on  the  coast  a  few  years  ago,  "Tut"  Im- 
lay,  of  California,  was  a  sensation.  A  slippery 
little  fellow  who,  it  is  said,  was  one  of  the  best 
players  in  that  country  developed  for  years.  It 
was  uncanny  to  watch  him  catch  punts  with 
three  or  four  tacklers  waiting  to  rub  his  nose  in 
the  dirt,  only  to  have  him  grab  the  ball  and  side- 
step his  way  through  them  for  a  considerable 
gain.    He  was  such  a  wiry  little  fellow  with  a 

124. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


change  of  pace  and  straight-arm  that  made  him 
the  best  open  field  runner  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  little  fellow  is  compelled  to  face  great 
odds.  This  has  sharpened  and  developed  his 
competitive  instinct.  Things  don't  come  quite  so 
easy  for  him,  and  this  means  harder  work  and, 
therefore,  greater  development.  He  must  use 
every  resource,  and  this  often  means  that  his  tim- 
ing is  better  and  surer,  and  there  is  less  waste  in 
everything  he  does.  The  tall  rangy  fellow  has  a 
longer  stride,  but  they  don't  get  there  any 
quicker,  or  get  as  many  revolutions  per  minute, 
as  an  engineer  would  say,  over  the  little  fellow. 

Invariably  the  crowd  is  with  the  game  little 
fellow  for  he  is,  after  all,  the  exemplification  of 
courage  and  spirit  that  warms  the  heart  of  the 
spectator. 

The  recent  death  of  Frank  Hinkey  recalls  an- 
other great  little  man  who  earned  his  fame  in  the 
older,  rougher  days  of  football  when  he  weighed 
less  than  150  pounds.  In  his  reign  at  Yale  many 
claim  that  not  one  yard  was  gained  around  his 
end.  He  was  one  of  the  most  deadly  of  all 
tacklers,  sure,  hard  and  clean,  a  dynamic  force 
that  drove  200  pound  ball-carriers  into  the  dirt 
time  and  again. 

125. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Joe  Sternaman,  formerly  of  Illinois  and  now 
playing  professional  football,  is  another  of  the 
little  men  who  delight  in  roughing  up  the  big 
fellows. 

"Sternaman,"  said  Zuppke,  "is  the  greatest 
professional  football  player  in  the  world.  He 
weighed  136  pounds  when  he  played  for  me  at 
Illinois  and  he  was  a  great  player  then.  He 
weighs  144  now,  and  is  the  best  end  in  the  game. 

"I  would  pick  Sternaman  against  any  man  I 
ever  saw  in  a  life-and-death  battle.  In  that  kind 
of  fight  I  believe  he  would  wreck  Jack  Dempsey 
completely.  I  saw  him  almost  wreck  a  heavy- 
weight champion  wrestler  in  college  who  out- 
weighed him  by  more  than  seventy  pounds. 

"He  is  a  ball  of  fire  inside,  with  as  much  nerve 
as  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  The  big  men  are  fine. 
But  there  is  always  room  for  a  good  little  man, 
no  matter  what  the  game  may  be." 

The  names  of  little  fellows  are  all  over  the  rec- 
ords for  greatness.  Handicapped  by  size  and 
weight  they  have  dodged  and  twisted  and 
squirmed  their  way  through  the  bigger  and 
heavier  men  until  their  names  regularly  appear 
in  tHe  selected  All- America  teams.  The  utility 
of  the  brainy  little  fellow  is  appreciated  by  the 
126. 


Any  Boy  Can  Be  a  Player 


coaches  who  realize  that  intelligence,  skill  and 
speed  can  be  condensed  into  a  small,  wiry  body. 
And  gray  matter  is  not  determined  by  bulging 
muscles  and  deep  chests. 


127. 


Chapter  VIII 


THE  VALUE  OF  FOOTBALL 

T^VEAN  Christian  Gauss,  of  Princeton,  was  re- 
cently  discussing  university  problems  at  an 
alumni  gathering.  Of  course,  football  was  men- 
tioned, and  when  it  was  he  said  with  considerable 
emphasis,  "For  my  part,  I  wish  we  played  foot- 
ball every  Saturday  during  the  college  year.  My 
job  during  the  football  season  is  much  easier,  as 
far  as  enforcing  discipline  in  the  university  goes, 
than  at  any  other  time." 

Dean  Gauss  hit  the  nail  on  the  head.  The 
temptations  surrounding  the  college  boy  today 
have  increased  ten-fold  since  I  was  an  under- 
graduate twenty-five  years  ago.  The  automobile 
has  eliminated  distance.  Most,  if  not  all,  of  our 
universities  and  colleges  are  within  easy  reach  of 
half  a  dozen  cities  and  towns  of  considerable  size. 
The  college  or  university  undergraduate  is  not 
going  to  spend  his  entire  time  in  study.  Nor  do 
I  believe  he  should.  What  is  he  going  to  do, 
then,  when  he  is  not  studying?   Certainly  he  is 

128. 


The  Value  of  Football 


not  going  to  sit  down,  fold  his  arms,  and  medi- 
tate. Quite  the  contrary,  he  is  going  to  be  up 
and  doing,  for  he  is  full  of  animal  spirits,  vitality, 
and  enthusiasm. 

Football  offers  a  partial  solution.  During  the 
football  season,  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the 
undergraduates  in  almost  every  college  and 
school  in  the  land  are  at  the  football  field  every 
Saturday  afternoon, — out  in  the  clear,  bracing 
autumn  air  and,  which  is  more  to  the  point,  out 
of  mischief  and  out  of  the  way  of  temptation. 

Hero-worship  may  be  a  bad  thing,  but  any 
one  who  has  had  even  a  little  experience  with  the 
young  of  the  human  species  knows  that  it  is  uni- 
versal and  ineradicable.  You  must  deal  with  it 
whether  you  like  it  or  not.  Why  not  make  it  as 
useful  and  helpful  as  possible? 

If  a  boy  has  no  one  else  to  admire,  he  will  ad- 
mire and  envy  a  dead-game  gambler  quite  as 
blindly  as  he  will  follow  a  splendid  specimen  of 
the  sound  mind  in  the  sound,  clean  body.  I  have 
seen  so  many  decent  young  fellows  acquire  mis- 
erably distorted  views  of  life  from  fixing  their 
admiration  on  unworthy  objects  that  I  have  no 
doubt  whatever  as  to  the  value  of  fine,  straight, 
upstanding  football  heroes  as  patterns  and  ex- 
amples.  Without  claiming  that  football  works 


129. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


miracles,  I  can  say  emphatically  that  a  first  class 
player  cannot  be  a  cad,  a  bully,  or  a  crook. 

Sometimes  I  hear  well-meaning  people,  even 
people  who  know  a  little  about  the  surface  of  the 
game  itself,  speak  slightingly  of  football  enthu- 
siasm in  the  colleges.  Sideline  and  grandstand 
spirit  they  call  it.  And  if  it  were  true  that  such 
an  atmosphere  breeds  a  tendency  to  take  one's 
own  exercise  on  the  bleachers,  I  should  agree 
with  them  in  part  at  least.  But  I  find  it  strongly 
effective  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction.  The 
more  you  can  rouse  football  enthusiasm  in  a  man 
utterly  unable  to  play  the  game,  the  easier  it  be- 
comes to  persuade  that  man  to  develop  his  body 
and  to  keep  it  in  decent  running  repair. 

More  men  go  out  to  play  soccer  or  tennis  or 
golf  in  a  college  where  football  interest  is  keen 
than  where  it  is  not,  and  of  course  the  goal  to- 
wards which  every  athletic  director  is  working  is 
to  get  as  many  students  as  possible  to  participate 
in  some  sort  of  athletics. 

Newspaper  reports  of  tremendous  receipts 
from  football  games  sometimes  give  well-mean- 
ing people  the  idea  that  the  game  is  run  for  some- 
body's profit.  Perhaps  in  some  cases  these 
receipts  are  not  altogether  wisely  used,  but  in  the 
vast  majority  of  instances,  every  penny  is  man- 

130. 


The  Value  of  Football 


aged  as  carefully  as  it  would  be  in  any  big  busi- 
ness and  applied  scientifically  to  the  general 
athletic  needs  of  the  university, 
t  The  man  who  pays  for  a  football  ticket  in  the 
fall  always  pays  for  half  a  dozen  other  sports, 
which  he  may  not  care  to  see  but  which  are  just 
as  important  to  the  all  around  development  of 
the  student  body  as  football  itself.  Even  at  the 
biggest  and  most  prosperous  institutions,  there 
are  no  more  than  two  or  three  sports  that  can 
meet  their  own  necessary  expenses.  The  only 
way  in  which  others  equally  valuable  can  be 
maintained  at  all  is  either  by  assessment  on  the 
undergraduate  body  or  by  the  surplus  from  the 
treasuries  of  the  profitable  games.  It  would  be 
a  pity  indeed  to  sacrifice  the  splendid  sport  of 
rowing  merely  because  it  cannot  be  managed 
behind  closed  gates  and  viewed  only  by  those  who 
pay  for  the  privilege.|  As  many  tennis  courts  as 
possible  and  college  golf  courses,  if  only  nine 
holes,  are  necessary  parts  of  the  athletic  equip- 
ment of  every  college  but  they  are  seldom,  if 
ever,  self-supporting.  Again,  the  rise  in  prices 
has  affected  athletics  just  as  much  as  anything 
else.  We  have  to  pay  nearly  three  times  as  much 
for  a  pair  of  football  shoes  as  we  paid  a  few 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


years  ago  and  other  equipment  has  advanced  pro- 
portionately. 

|  The  college  football  game  is  not  run  for 
profits.  It  is  a  spectacle  incidentally  and  not 
primarily,  and  the  student  bodies  whose  rivalry 
makes  it  possible  are  hosts  for  the  day  to  a  body 
composed  mainly  of  graduates  and  their  friends, 
each  of  whom  makes  a  contribution  to  the  gen- 
eral athletic  fund  of  both  colleges  which  is  grate- 
fully received  and  wisely  used.  | 

The  assertion,  so  often  loosely  made,  that  foot- 
ball is  taking  up  too  much  of  the  students'  time, 
is  not  borne  out  by  the  facts.  The  demands  of 
practice  and  games  together  take  up  less  time 
than  any  other  competitive  sport.  Last  fall  at 
Princeton  football  took  up  exactly  sixty-six 
hours  of  the  players'  time,  while  the  University 
was  in  session.  The  Fall  term  started  Septem- 
ber 29  and  the  football  season  closed  with  the 
Yale  game  on  November  14.  During  this  period, 
the  Varsity  football  squad  never  spent  more  than 
two  hours  on  the  field  in  any  day, — from  3 :30  to 
5:30  in  the  afternoon.  Two  days  a  week  the 
practice  sessions  hardly  lasted  over  an  hour. 
Before  the  opening  of  college,  we  had  a  two 
weeks  conditioning  period  commencing  Septem- 


132. 


The  Value  of  Football 


ber  15,  All  in  all,  the  Princeton  football  season 
lasted  just  eight  weeks  and  four  days. 

I  admit  the  Princeton  season  is  the  shortest 
in  the  country,  but  only  by  two  or  three  weeks. 
Coaches  everywhere  are  recognizing  more  and 
more  that  it  is  better  to  underwork  their  charges 
than  to  overwork  them.  The  football  player  in 
the  vast  majority  of  instances  is  a  mere  boy  in 
years  and  cannot  be  at  his  best  when  he  is  tired 
and  bruised. 

To  counteract  the  extravagant  statements  that 
are  sometimes  made  about  the  excessive  demands 
on  the  football  players'  time  and  its  interference 
with  college  work,  the  Football  Coaches'  Asso- 
ciation, which  is  composed  of  all  the  leading  foot- 
ball coaches  in  the  country,  adopted  a  resolution 
recommending  that  practice  sessions  should 
never  exceed  two  hours  and  that  fall  practice 
should  not  start  prior  to  September  15  unless 
college  had  actually  opened.  In  the  discus- 
sion that  preceded  the  adoption  of  this  resolution, 
it  was  the  consensus  of  opinion  that  such  limita- 
tions on  practice  could  not  retard  the  efficient  de- 
velopment of  any  team. 

Consider  as  a  basis  of  comparison  the  amount 
of  time  given  over  to  other  sports.  The  candi- 
dates for  the  crew  start  preliminary  training  in 

133- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


the  Fall,  spend  a  good  part  of  the  winter  in  a 
more  or  less  monotonous  grind  on  the  rowing 
machines,  and  are  out  again  until  early  Summer 
as  soon  as  the  ice  is  off  the  water.  Baseball  runs 
for  four  months  in  the  Spring  and  usually  one 
month  in  the  Fall.  Basketball  and  hockey,  often 
considered  minor  sports,  are  played  continuously 
for  three  or  four  months.  I  see  no  reason  why 
there  should  be  any  objection  to  the  length  of  the 
playing  season  of  our  various  games,  within  rea- 
sonable bounds.  I  am  simply  pointing  out  how 
easy  it  is  to  distort  facts  when  football  comes  up 
for  discussion. 

Modern  college  rules  require  a  little  more  in 
actual  fact  from  an  athlete  than  from  any  other 
student,  both  as  regards  conduct  and  study.  The 
athlete,  and  particularly  the  football  player,  even 
where  the  faculty  control  is  conspicuously 
benevolent,  is  always  under  observation.  He  is 
something  like  the  minister's  son, — when  he  slips 
everybody  knows  it  and  many  people  say,  "I  told 
you  so."  He  cannot  play  football  unless  he 
keeps  out  of  trouble  and  stands  well  in  his  classes. 
Neither  can  he  play  football  unless  he  keeps  his 
body  clean  and  fit,  not  just  in  training  season 
but  the  year  around. 

Many  players  have  told  me  that  they  did  better 

134. 


The  Value  of  Football 


work  in  college  during  the  football  season  than 
at  any  other  time  because  of  the  routine  of  regu- 
lar hours,  plenty  of  sleep,  and  a  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility due  to  the  knowledge  that  in  order 
to  keep  on  the  team  they  must  be  up  in  their 
college  work. 

The  increasing  tendency  toward  disregard  for 
law  and  order  in  this  country  is  causing  anxiety 
to  those  who  give  even  superficial  consideration 
to  the  trend  of  the  times.  There  are  a  good 
many  classed  as  decent  respectable  citizens  en- 
couraging the  criminal  violation  of  the  law.  And 
remember,  too,  the  younger  generation  is  today 
confronted  by  both  an  unfamiliar  opportunity 
and  a  heavy  and  constant  temptation  to  imitate 
their  elders. 

Lincoln  said  this  nation  could  not  endure  half 
slave  and  half  free.  Neither  can  it  continue  half 
dry  and  half  wet.  If  prohibition  is  to  stay  in 
force,  much  as  some  may  disagree  with  it,  the  law 
must  be  observed.  To  date  official  Washington 
shows  but  a  negligible  minority  in  favor  of  any 
modification.  If  prohibition  is  to  be  enforced,  I 
seriously  believe  athletics,  and  particularly  foot- 
ball, can  be  of  real  help. 

One  reason  why  the  game  has  taken  such  a 
hold  on  the  public  is  its  essential  atmosphere  of 


135- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


straightforwardness  and  downrightness,  its  con- 
tempt for  chicanery  and  fraud.  Anyone  who  at- 
tempts to  play  football  even  moderately  well 
must  be  in  the  pink  of  condition,  not  only  during 
the  actual  playing  season  but  through  the  entire 
year.  There  are  few  boys  in  any  college  who 
wouldn't  make  almost  any  sacrifice  to  play  on  the 
team,  and  most  of  them  realize  that  if  they  dissi- 
pate their  chance  is  lost  beyond  recovery, 

I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  the  more  we 
encourage  healthful  athletic  competition,  the 
better  citizens  we  make.  The  successful  football 
player  twenty  years  ago  was  indisputably  the 
man  who  had  strength  first  of  all,  courage  next, 
and  intelligence  only  as  a  minor  incident  if  at  all. 
Under  the  playing  conditions  of  today,  games 
are  won  and  lost  simply  on  a  mental  difference 
which  more  than  offsets  physical  differences  just 
as  great. 

I  have  seen  great  football  classics  decided 
solely  by  mental  superiority,  a  difference  in 
speed  and  clearness  of  thought,  which  was  quite 
as  visible  and  far  more  effective  than  the  differ- 
ence in  physical  qualities.  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that  the  winning  football  player  is  the  thinking 
football  player  and  that  the  most  vital  qualifica- 

136. 


The  Value  of  Football 


tion  for  those  who  wish  to  excel  at  the  game  is 
brains. 

Football  is  distinctly  a  team  game,  one  of  self- 
effacement  for  the  common  good,  of  willing 
subordination  of  selfish  motive  and  individual 
ambition  to  the  cause  of  the  team  which  personi- 
fies the  university  or  school  behind  it.  The 
grandstander  may  have  temporary  success,  but 
he  seldom  lasts.  The  greatest  running  backs  I 
have  ever  coached  have  been  men  who  seldom  if 
ever  carried  the  ball.  It  is  hard  for  the  general 
public  to  understand  this  side  of  the  game,  but 
the  boys  who  play  it  understand  and  appreciate 
it. 

There  is  no  doubt  football  has  its  faults,  but 
the  benefits  from  the  game  and  its  influence  on 
those  who  play  it  far  outweigh  its  defects.  In 
an  address  before  the  National  Collegiate  Ath- 
letic Association  in  New  York,  President  Ernest 
M.  Hopkins,  of  Dartmouth,  sounded  a  note  of 
warning  which  should  be  carefully  considered  by 
those  who  ascribe  evils  to  football  much  greater 
than  really  exist  and  who  seek  to  eliminate  it 
from  our  school  and  college  activities.  President 
Hopkins  said,  "There  is  scriptural  authority  for 
the  fear  that  a  miraculously  created  void  may 
not  be  advantageously  filled.    The  evil  spirit 


137- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


which  returned  to  the  antiseptically  swept  and 
garnished  chamber  from  which  it  had  been  cast 
out,  came  not  alone,  but  had  associated  with  itself 
seven  other  devils,  and  the  latter  state  was  cor- 
respondingly worse  than  the  former." 

"It  is  not  surprising  in  a  country  where  we 
strive  to  make  man  temperate  by  legislation,  in- 
dustrious by  court  decree,  and  happy  by  politi- 
cal oratory,  that  we  should  assume  our  ability  to 
make  men  scholars  by  denying  them  the  oppor- 
tunity for  indulging  in  any  other  interest.  But 
arguing  from  analogy,  we  lack  certainty  that  this 
would  be  the  inevitable  outcome." 

•  In  the  history  of  civilization,  Greece  stands 
out  as  a  well-known  landmark.  What  do  we  as- 
sociate with  Greece?  Greek  learning  and  Greek 
culture, — but  above  all,  the  Greek  athlete.  Facts 
and  figures  are  forgotten,  qualities  of  mind  and 
body  are  not. 


138. 


Chapter  IX 
what's  wrong  with  professional  football? 

6  '\A7"HAT  do  you  think" — friends  and  ac- 
*  V  quaintances  are  continually  asking  me — 
"of  the  future  of  professional  football?  Will  it 
last?   Is  it  a  good  thing?" 

Yes  and  no.  There  are  too  many  "ifs"  in  an- 
swering such  a  question,  too  much  to  be  said 
for  and  against  professional  football  to  be 
summed  up  in  one  short,  sweeping  statement. 

Professional  football,  in  the  main,  is  merely 
a  parasitical  outgrowth  of  the  college  game,  ex- 
ploited by  fight-promoters,  moving  picture  men 
and  public  spirited  citizens  of  equally  public 
spirited  communities. 

Its  purpose  is  to  provide  entertainment,  rec- 
reation,  for  the  spectators — putting  on  a  show, 
a  travesty,  a  three  ringed  circus.  The  promoters, 
who  know  little  of  the  spirit  behind  the  college 
game,  and  care  less,  make  no  false  pretenses 
about  the  game.  They  are  merely  business  enter- 
prisers, gambling  with  public  interest  and  favor. 


139- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


I  have  no  quarrel  with  professional  football. 
All  things  being  equal,  I  think  the  promoters 
are  managing  their  "show"  as  cleanly  as  it  can 
be  managed.  Its  effect  on  the  college  game  is 
negligible,  for  the  professional  game  lacks  the 
flame,  the  spirit,  that  keeps  the  college  game 
going  upward  and  onward  in  the  appreciation  of 
the  general  public  as  a  hard,  bristling  sport ;  com- 
pelling in  spirit  and  inspiring  in  sentiment. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  of  football,  as  player, 
fan  and  coach,  have  taught  me  first  of  all  that 
the  game  is  played,  not  by  eleven  men,  but  by 
eleven  hundred  or  eleven  thousand — by  the  whole 
student  body  and  graduate  body  of  the  institu- 
tion, large  or  small,  which  these  men  represent.. 

College  football  is  interwoven  with  college 
life.  The  spectacle,  with  student  bands,  organ- 
ized cheering,  enhanced  by  the  color  and  intense 
emotional  stimulus  of  a  big  game  cannot  be  du- 
plicated on  the  soil  of  a  big  league  baseball  park 
or  in  the  shadows  of  mills  and  factories.  The 
synthetic  counterfeits  of  collegiate  enthusiasm 
manufactured  by  the  professional  clubs  have 
been  as  successful  and  inspiring  as  a  Sunday 
school  picnic  on  a  rainy  day. 

It  takes  something  more  compelling  than  a 
pay  check  to  arouse  the  flaming  courage,  the  grit 

140. 


Professional  Football 


and  endurance  manifested  on  the  gridiron 
against  the  background  of  Gothic  buildings, 
shaded  lawns  and  familiar  faces  of  classmates. 
It  takes  spirit,  college  spirit.  The  only  analogy, 
I  think,  is  love  of  country. 

This  may  sound  like  the  loose  and  windy  bom- 
bast of  the  common  collegiate  spellbinder.  My 
experience,  however,  has  convinced  me  that  there 
must  be  some  strong,  underlying  motive,  some 
form  of  tangible  loyalty — to  a  coach,  a  team  or 
an  institution,  prompted  by  the  heat  of  hard 
competitive  sport,  to  bring  about  the  best  results 
in  football. 

The  most  damning  evidence  against  profes- 
sional football  is  the  attitude  of  the  players  them- 
selves. 

Of  course  it  is  not  expected  that  they  will  emu- 
late Phil  Brett,  the  Rutgers  captain  of  1891, 
who,  sitting  on  the  field  after  suffering  a  broken 
leg  against  Princeton,  said  between  sobs  that 
"I'd  die  for  Dear  Old  Rutgers,"  which  proved 
to  be  a  burden  on  him  ever  since.  That  is  asking 
too  much.  But  stories  of  the  other  extreme  are 
too  common  to  be  ignored  as  exceptional. 

There  is  the  story  of  a  great  football  player, 
fresh  from  the  triumphs  of  the  campus  who  was 
lured  into  the  game  not  so  much  for  the  money 

141. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


but  because  he  really  glowed  and  reveled  in  the 
clash  of  flesh  against  flesh  and  would  miss  a  meal 
rather  than  an  opportunity  to  hit  the  line. 

In  his  first  game  his  team  was  behind.  The 
college  star  was  the  only  man  who  gained  con- 
sistently against  the  opponents.  He  carried  the 
ball  for  three  straight  times,  gaining  ten,  fifteen 
and  ten  yards  at  a  clip.  Panting,  but  eager  to 
keep  going,  he  asked  the  quarterback  to  take  it 
again. 

"Aw,  take  it  easy  kid,"  warned  the  veteran 
quarterback  of  many  professional  campaigns. 
"Cut  the  rah-rah  stuff  and  make  some  of  these 
hirelings  do  some  work.  They're  making  a 
sucker  out  of  you." 

The  quarterback  called  for  the  fullback  to  take 
the  ball.  He  protested.  "I've  got  a  bad  knee." 
The  other  halfback  was  called.  He  could 
scarcely  walk,  he  said,  let  alone  carry  the  ball. 

"Aw,  right,"  yelled  the  quarterback.  "I'll 
take  it.   I've  got  200  bucks  on  this  game." 

Later,  in  the  dressing  room,  after  the  game 
was  decided  in  favor  of  the  collegian's  team,  with 
himself  and  the  quarterback  carrying  the 
burden,  the  collegian  talked  over  professional 
football  with  the  seasoned  veteran. 

"The  slogan  of  the  professional  athlete"  said 


142. 


Wide  World 


WHAT'S  WRONG  WITH  PROFESSIONAL  FOOTBALL? 

Above:  The  Yellow  Jackets  of  Philadelphia  defeat  the  New  York  Foot- 
ball Giants  in  the  first  professional  game  at  the  Polo  Grounds.  Score 
lJf-0.    Note  that  at  least  nine  players  are  standing. 

Below:  The  University  of  Alabama's  offensive  crashing  amy  through 
Stamford  line  in  East-West  gridiron  battle  at  Pasadena,  January  1st, 
1927 .    Score  7-7 .    Note  the  tense  attitude  of  the  players. 


Professional  Football 


the  quarterback,  "is:  Don't  get  hurt;  we  play- 
again  tomorrow,  and  you're  no  good  to  the  team 
or  yourself  lying  on  a  hospital  cot. 

"After  all,"  he  continued.  "We're  not  kidding 
ourselves  in  this  game.  Tomorrow  the  sun  will 
come  up  and  next  winter  it  will  snow  and  be  just 
as  cold  and  if  I  don't  lay  something  away  I'll  be 
just  as  broke  and — oh,  who  cares  anyhow! 

"The  spectators  come  to  see  some  spectacular 
runs  and  get  a  few  thrills.  They  don't  relish  a 
stonewall  defense  on  the  one  yard  line.  They 
want  to  see  some  galloping  ghost  cut  loose  for 
ten  or  twenty  yards  through  a  broken  field — and 
this  bird'll  not  disappoint  them. 

"I've  missed  more  tackles  than  I  could  shake 
a  stick  at.  And  if  more  fellows  would  forget 
they  ever  played  college  football  the  way  I  do 
they'd  be  turning  'em  away  at  the  gate." 

That  is  not  the  expression  of  one  player;  it  is 
the  creed  of  the  majority  and  sums  up  profes- 
sional football.  Until  the  attitude  of  the  player 
changes  the  game  has  a  very  hazy  and  dubious 
future. 

There  is  something  distinctive  about  football. 
I  can  easily  understand  a  professional  making  a 
living  pole-vaulting,  playing  tennis,  golf  or  base- 
ball.  The  usual  run  of  sports  demand  less  than 

i43. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


football,  which  depends  solely  on  the  spirit  moti- 
vating the  players. 

The  demands  of  football  are  such  that  the 
player,  to  be  right,  must  keep  in  splendid  physi- 
cal condition.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  with  the 
professional  players  selling  bonds,  insurance  and 
real  estate,  working  as  dentists,  lawyers,  hustling 
ice  and  milk  and  baggage,  as  well  as  living  about 
in  clubs  and  hotels,  any  form  of  systemized  train- 
ing so  essential  to  real  football  is  impossible. 

What  is  the  result?  The  professional  men 
cannot  give  their  all.  They  cannot  let  go.  They 
know  that  if  they  are  injured  they  are  off  the 
payroll  until  they  are  ready  for  action  again.  A 
really  serious  injury  puts  them  out  for  good. 

The  men  who  play  are  not  fools.  They  know 
they  are  not  in  the  physical  shape  of  their  college 
days.  They  are  leading  different  kinds  of  exis- 
tence, not  so  particular  about  their  waistline  and 
conscious  that  they  are  slowing  up  and  getting 
brittle.  Many  of  them  are  married.  The  easy 
money  of  the  professional  game  made  it  possible 
for  them  to  get  settled,  in  comparison  with  their 
classmates  engaged  in  slower  but  more  perman- 
ent positions.  With  love  of  wife  and  home  and 
social  interests  bearing  down  on  them  it  is  only 
144. 


Professional  Football 


natural  that  they  would  go  through  the  motions 
of  football  with  as  little  as  possible  bodily  danger. 

Last  fall  one  of  the  famous  college  players 
who  went  into  the  game  talked  with  a  group  of 
his  former  team  mates  about  the  professional 
football. 

"I  expect  to  play  in  at  least  twenty-two  games 

this  season,"  he  said,  "at  per  game.  Like  to 

know  where  I  could  make  that  much  money  doing 
anything  else." 

"That  is,"  interrupted  one  of  the  gathering, 
"if  you  don't  get  hurt." 

"Oh,  I'll  see  that  I  don't,"  assured  the  profes- 
sional. "We've  got  a  hustling  club,  for  pro's.  I 
picked  up  a  lot  of  players  from  small  colleges 
who  are  out  to  show  up  the  players  like  myself 
with  big  reputations.  I'm  all  for  it  and  let  them 
go  right  ahead. 

"I  stand  right  behind  them  and  swear  at  them 
in  the  line  and  tell  them  to  get  in  there  and  fight 
— to  smear  those  birds — so  I  won't  have  to  do  it. 

"But  I've  got  to  keep  my  head  up,"  continued 
the  professional  who  was  a  glutton  for  punish- 
ment and  one  of  the  best  defensive  halfbacks  in 
college.  "The  old  urge  to  let  go  and  take  a  leap 
at  some  cocky  bird  coming  through  is  awfully 

145- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


strong.  I  did  it  last  week  in  Chicago  and  cured 
myself  for  life.   It's  a  dangerous  habit. 

"This  fellow  came  tearing  through  the  line  like 
a  bowlegged  panther.  There  was  nothing  be- 
tween him  and  our  goal  but  yours  truly. 

"In  an  unguarded  moment  I  forgot  myself — 
a  reflex  action — I  guess,  or  something — but  I  let 
go  and  hit  him  head  on  at  the  knees. 

"He  was  all  knees.  My  face  looked  like  a 
drunken  sailor's  when  I  got  up. 

"Well,  you  can  bet  I  didn't  bother  that  fellow 
with  the  knees  that  afternoon.  I  gave  him  the 
right  of  way  and  every  time  he  cut  loose  I  just 
wasn't  within  tackling  distance.  Of  course  I  ran 
after  him — but  not  fast  enough." 

This  player  also  said  that  the  idea  of  the  game 
was  to  give  the  spectators  a  "run  for  their 
money"  between  the  twenty  yard  lines.  Then 
the  players  tightened  up  and  played  real  football 
within  the  shadow  of  the  goal  posts. 

The  position  of  professional  football  is  indeed 
a  precarious  one  and  I  regret  to  see  the  game  die 
out  entirely  because  of  over-exploitation.  Big 
Bill  Edwards,  president  of  one  of  the  profes- 
sional leagues  during  the  past  year,  when  the 
revival  of  the  professional  game  was  rather  aus~ 
146. 


Professional  Football 


picious,  expressed  an  opinion  several  years  ago 
which,  I  believe,  still  holds : 

"Football  will  never  be  commercialized,"  he 
wrote  in  the  Philadelphia  North  American  on 
December  4th,  1920.  "The  essential  features  of 
the  game,  the  demands  it  makes  on  the  players 
spiritually,  the  innate  sportsmanship  it  requires 
of  its  adherents  make  the  probability  remote  of 
it  ever  being  exploited  professionally  with  any 
degree  of  success." 

Circumstances  do  alter  cases  and  no  doubt  Mr. 
Edwards  changed  his  mind  regarding  profes- 
sional football  in  the  intervening  time  since  he 
wrote  the  above  and  assumed  the  office  of  presi- 
dent of  the  professional  football  league. 

But  I  still  find  Mr.  Edwards'  statement  sound 
and  logical.  It  is  just  as  good  today  as  when  he 
wrote  it  and  will  be  so  ten  years  hence. 

Football  thrives  on  one  thing — spirit.  That 
spirit  must  be  real,  fostered  by  a  common  inter- 
est and  working  toward  a  common  end  for  an  in- 
stitution, a  place,  or  an  ideal.  Mere  football  for 
football's  sake  will  never  go,  except  spasmodi- 
cally. 

There  is  a  spirited  community  in  the  outlying 
section  of  Philadelphia  where  professional  foot- 

147. 


Football j  Today  and  Tomorrow 


ball  thrives  under  the  only  conditions  possible 
for  the  game. 

That  football  is  possible  outside  the  college 
campus,  that  it  can  be  a  real  thing  and  can  go  on, 
year  after  year,  with  a  steady  popularity  is  illus- 
trated by  the  Frankford  Yellow  jackets. 

The  Yellow  jackets,  I  believe,  won  the  pro- 
fessional championship  of  the  United  States  last 
season.  They  did  not  have  the  biggest  names 
or  the  highest  priced  stars  in  their  lineup.  But 
they  played  real  football,  under  ideal  football 
conditions,  with  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
the  community  cheering  for  them. 

Frankford  is  an  interesting  place.  An  indus- 
trial center,  primarily,  bubbling  over  with  civic 
pride.  The  Yellow  jackets  belong  to  the  com- 
munity, with  the  residents  owning  jointly  the 
stock.  Every  dollar  taken  in  at  the  gate  over 
expenses  is  expended  towards  the  welfare  of 
Frankford — Not  a  nickel  is  made  by  the  pro- 
moters. 

The  players,  like  Tex  Hamer,  former  Penn- 
sylvania Captain,  have  played  there  for  several 
years ;  live  in  the  community,  and  are  in  business 
there.  The  newcomers  are  invited  around  to  the 
homes  of  the  residents  for  dinner,  bridge  and 
social  gatherings.     Every  football  player  is 

148. 


Professional  Football 


known  by  his  first  name  and  in  turn  knows  hun- 
dreds in  the  community  in  the  same  way.  This 
sort  of  thing  breeds  a  natural  interest  and  spirit. 

In  these  days  of  football  exploitation,  with  all- 
star  aggregations  trouping  about  the  country 
like  so  many  circuses,  it  is  worth  the  time  of  any- 
one to  wander  out  to  Frankford  on  a  Saturday 
afternoon  in  the  autumn. 

A  steady  stream  of  men  and  women  and  chil- 
dren flowing  toward  the  football  field.  On  the 
arms  of  girls  are  the  colors  of  the  Yellow- 
jackets,  in  their  hands,  pennants.  They  cheer 
for  the  players  because  they  know  them,  because 
it  is  their  team.  They  have  a  clannishness  that 
is  refreshing,  that  would  put  many  colleges  to 
shame — and  very  few  of  them  ever  saw  a  college. 

Football  started  in  Frankford  many  years  ago, 
an  outgrowth  of  the  game  which  spread  through 
all  the  industrial  centers  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
residents  liked  the  game,  liked  the  idea  of  watch- 
ing their  boys  play  against  a  neighboring  team. 
They  did  not  know  that  the  playing  lacked  the 
finesse,  the  skill  and  interest  of  the  high  school 
games,  but  it  was  their  team,  their  boys;  and  they 
stood  behind  them. 

From  this  sand-lot  aggregation  has  developed 
a  great  community  organization,  very  wealthy 

149. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


and  powerful  in  the  section,  with  football  mak- 
ing enough  money  to  carry  their  sports  program 
— just  like  the  college  game. 

Today  the  name  of  Frankford  Yellow  jackets 
is  the  biggest  in  the  realm  of  professional  foot- 
ball. It  is  supported  by  working  people  from 
the  surrounding  factories,  mills  and  offices,  as 
well  as  the  local  business  men.  Football  means 
the  Yellow  jackets  and  the  differentiation  be- 
tween intercollegiate  and  professional  football 
means  nothing  at  all  to  them. 

Communities  like  Frankford  are  the  rock 
foundation  of  the  professional  game.  There  are 
many  such  places  scattered  over  the  country, — 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  Clifton  Heights,  etc., — made 
up  of  commercial  and  industrial  people  with  an 
aptitude  for  all  kinds  of  competitive  sport. 

Modern  football  has  a  tremendous  appeal  to 
these  men  working  in  mills,  factories  and  offices, 
They  have  imagination  and  respond  to  the  thrill 
of  the  man  against  man  clashes  in  football.  They 
play  baseball  in  the  summer  and  basketball  in  the 
winter  and  are  adept  at  it. 

Just  as  the  majority  of  our  major  league  ball 
players  come  from  this  class  of  people,  so  too, 
could  men  of  the  professional  game  be  recruited 
from  their  ranks. 

150. 


Professional  Football 


In  the  coal  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  where  the 
professional  game  has  flourished  for  years,  they 
developed  many  such  players.  One  of  them  is 
known  far  better  than  "Red"  Grange  will  ever 
be  in  that  section.  His  name  is  "Blue"  Bonner, 
a  backfield  star,  now  living  at  Pottsville.  He 
made  college  players  coming  into  that  section 
look  like  the  schoolboys  they  were. 

My  contention  is  that  if  the  professional  pro- 
moters get  the  majority  of  their  players  from  the 
industrial  groups  they  can  do  more  with  them  in 
the  way  of  training,  etc.,  than  with  the  college 
star  fresh  from  the  campus. 

The  college  ball  player,  for  all  the  bunk  writ- 
ten to  the  contrary,  has  not  been  a  howling  suc- 
cess as  a  professional.  For  the  same  reason  he 
will  not,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  make  a  go  of 
professional  football. 

His  heart  isn't  in  the  game.  It  isn't  a  case  of 
play  or  starve.  He  has  his  education  to  fall  back 
on  and  his  memories  of  stirring  contests  during 
his  college  days,  which  makes  the  professional 
game  seem  dull  and  flat  and  cheap. 

But  the  youth  who  has  had  nothing  but  the 
dull  routine  of  a  factory  or  a  coal  mine  staring 
him  in  the  face,  who  has  a  natural  craving  for 
blue  skies  and  green  turf  and  the  competition  of 

151. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


football  and  baseball,  the  life  of  a  professional 
athlete  is  the  peak  of  romance  and  human 
achievement.  He'll  get  in  there  and  fight  for  all 
he's  got. 

I  remember  watching  one  of  these  teams  play- 
in  Philadelphia.  They  were  called  the  Home- 
stead Professionals  and  could  have  beaten  the 
average  college  team  with  eight  men. 

This  type  of  athlete  has  been  all  but  ignored 
by  the  promoters  exploiting  the  popularity  of 
football.  They  filled  their  lineups  with  names, 
not  players,  and  let  it  go  at  that.  Joe  Merriwell, 
who  made  that  great  run  against  Siwash  in  1917 
is  still  playing  on  his  reputation,  although  he  has 
a  few  chins,  a  rotund  figure  and  no  wind  at  all. 

There  will  always  be  great  college  players  who 
love  the  game  of  football  so  much  that  they  will 
continue  to  play  it  until  forced  to  the  sidelines 
with  bad  knees,  broken  legs  or  old  age.  "Red" 
Grange,  I  believe,  is  of  this  type. 

Last  summer,  when  Grange  was  working  in 
Hollywood  on  his  football  picture,  he  made  such 
an  impression  as  an  actor  that  the  moving  picture 
people  offered  him  more  money  to  remain  there 
than  he  could  have  made  speculating  with  profes- 
sional football.    "Red"  refused.    Football  was 


152. 


Professional  Football 


his  game,  the  breath  of  life  to  him  and  more  im- 
portant than  money. 

There  are  few  "Red"  Granges.  But  there  are 
equally  as  many  in  the  college  football  ranks  as 
in  the  baseball  ranks.  We  will  always  have  the 
Sislers,  just  as  we  have  the  Granges. 

With  a  proper  blending  of  athletes  from  the 
colleges  and  sand-lots,  and  one  league  in  the 
country,  professional  football  will  go.  And  on 
merit  and  skill  alone. 

When  men  love  a  game  they  will  make  sacri- 
fices for  it.  With  players  who  are  really  "sold" 
on  football  as  a  means  of  livelihood,  and  with  the 
right  type  of  man  in  charge  who  selects  his  team 
and  demands  of  them  the  restrictions  placed  on 
the  college  athlete,  professional  football  will  be  a 
game  apart,  something  just  as  good,  if  not  better 
from  a  playing  standpoint,  than  the  college 
game. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  profes- 
sional team  will  outdraw  the  college  eleven.  That 
is  asking  too  much  and  the  teams  should  not  be 
compared.  The  professionals  game  can  be 
played  on  Sundays  in  cities  like  New  York  and 
Chicago  with  the  assurance  that  enough  people 
will  turn  out  to  see  a  real  football  game.  They 

153. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


could  play  on  Saturdays  in  places  like  Frank- 
ford. 

There  is  money  in  professional  football  but 
not  enough  to  have  the  sport  continue  in  an  ex- 
ploited, circus-like  manner  employed  by  the 
promoters,  who,  after  all,  handled  it  like  a  box- 
ing bout,  a  show  and  band  concert. 

It  has  as  much  chance  of  permanence  as  pro- 
fessional baseball  but  will  never  become  as  popu- 
lar as  the  summer  pastime  because  it  will  be  first, 
last  and  always,  of  minor  importance  to  the  inter- 
collegiate game  of  football. 


154. 


Chapter  X 


THE  MODERN  GAME 

\ll  THEN  President  Roosevelt  called  the  rep- 
*  *  resentatives  of  Yale,  Harvard  and  Prince- 
ton to  the  White  House  in  October,  1905  to 
discuss  the  future  of  football,  he  not  only  saved 
the  game  by  demanding  that  the  rules  be 
changed,  but  made  possible  modern  football  as 
it  is  known  today. 

A  difficult  period  it  was,  in  football  history. 
Several  newspapers,  engaged  in  a  crusade 
against  the  game  after  the  bloody  season  of  1905, 
when  18  players  were  killed,  11  of  them  high 
school  lads  and  three  collegians;  with  149  in- 
jured seriously,  88  in  the  high  schools  and  47  in 
the  colleges,  referred  to  football  as  "murderous, 
brutal  and  dangerous."  So  strong  was  the  wave 
of  popular  opinion  against  the  sport  that  the 
legislatures  in  some  western  states  passed  a  law 
making  it  a  penal  offense  to  play  football. 

President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  when  asked  to 
step  into  the  breach,  declined  for  lack  of  juris- 


155. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


diction.  The  faculty  of  Columbia  promptly 
abolished  the  sport;  Northwestern  and  Union 
stopped  playing  for  one  year  while  Stanford  and 
California  abandoned  football  in  favor  of  Rugby. 
But  the  majority  of  colleges  awaited  the  outcome 
of  the  President's  conference  before  taking  ac- 
tion one  way  or  the  other. 

The  situation  was  indeed  serious.  Football  had 
not  fully  recovered  from  the  black  eye  of  the 
1893-94  period,  the  days  of  the  fiercest  and 
bloodiest  games  in  its  history,  when  a  great  hue 
and  cry  went  up  for- the  abolition  of  the  game. 
Present  day  football  followers,  perhaps,  cannot 
appreciate  the  viciousness  and  roughness  of  foot- 
ball in  those  early  days. 

At  Harvard  a  football  strategist,  Lorin  De- 
land,  who  was  not  a  player,  invented  the  flying 
wedge,  which  became  the  steam  roller  play  of 
football.  It  was  a  combination  pile-driver  and 
stampede.  This  play  was  improved  upon  by  the 
great  Pennsylvania  team  of  1894  which  started 
forming  the  flying  wedge  from  the  line  of  scrim- 
mage, by  dropping  linesmen  back  to  form  a 
wedge  with  the  backs  and  massing  against  an 
end  or  tackle. 

Football,  ew&in  1905,  was  a  boring,  dull  sort 
of  an  affair;  a  cross  between  a  battle-royal  and 

i56. 


The  Modern  Game 


cattle  stampede.f  I  have  often  wondered  how 
the  spectators  managed  to  sit  Jhrough  the  game. 
There  were  intervals  when  they  never  saw  the 
ball  at  all,  but  just  a  drab  mass  of  twenty-two 
players  eternally  pushing  and  shoving  each  other 
up  and  down  the  field.  The  thrill  of  watching  a 
fleet-footed  halfback  weaving  in  and  out  of  a 
broken  field,  the  smartly  executed  forward  pass, 
was  unknown  to  them.  End  running  had  become 
an  almost  forgotten  art.  The  light,  shifty  back 
had  little  chance  to  excel.  § 

There  was  little  or  no  need  for  brains  in  this 
trial  of  strength,  weight  and  iron  courage.  The 
whole  strategy  of  attack  was  centered  on  ham- 
mering and  slamming  away  at  some  spot  in  the 
defense.  Play  after  play  was  hurled  at  the  same 
defensive  guard  or  tackle  until  they  were  forced 
back  through  sheer  exhaustion. 

Usually  the  entire  offense  was  built  around  a 
"push  and  pull"  order  of  attack,  with  a  big  200 
pound  tackle  drawn  out  of  the  line  and  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  procession. 

The  ball  was  given  to  the  tackle.  Four  backs 
and  two  ends  fell  in  behind  him,  all  pushing  and 
pulling.  The  big  tackle  was  expected  to  keep 
his  feet  while  his  mates  pushed  him  through  the 
defense. 


157- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


To  the  modern  football  fan  it  would  be  almost 
comical  to  watch  the  big  tackle,  pushed  this  way 
and  that,  like  a  wilted  Hercules,  by  his  mates. 
Little  wonder  the  old-timer  coming  back  to  his 
alma  mater  after  many  years  is  amazed  at 
modern  football,  referring  to  it  as  a  "glorified 
basketball  game."  In  comparison,  it  surely  is 
just  that. 

When  the  200  pound  tackle  did  not  carry  the 
ball  his  weight  was  utilized.  His  job  was,  on 
the  offense,  to  hammer  and  knife  his  broad  body 
through  the  line,  the  ball-carrier  following  on  his 
heels. 

The  greatest  team  was  usually  the  heaviest 
team.  There  was  the  great  Michigan  team  which 
had  not  been  defeated  in  1901,  '02,  '03,  and  '04. 
During  this  period  they  ran  up  a  total  of  2,326 
points  and  had  a  mere  40  points  scored  against 
them.  They  had  won  43  games. 

The  record  of  the  1905  team  was  more  bril- 
liant than  the  other  years.  In  a  series  of  12 
games  prior  to  the  great  Chicago  game,  they  had 
a  total  of  495  points  against  nothing  for  oppo- 
nents. They  were  called  the  point  a  minute  team. 
Chicago  defeated  them  by  a  safety.  I  travelled 
west  for  the  game  and  on  the  Michigan  team  saw 
eleven  giants.    Schultz,  the  All- America  center, 

158. 


The  Modem  Game 


weighed  220  pounds;  Octopus  Graham,  at  one 
guard,  weighed  246;  Schulte,  the  other  guard, 
195;  and  Captain  Curtis,  was  another  giant,  at 
left  tackle. 

Compare  this  weight  with  the  famous  Notre 
Dame  team  of  1924,  with  its  famous  Four  Horse- 
men.   The  whole  team  averaged  168  pounds! 

But  there  was  a  marked  difference  even  in  the 
rules  which  made  the  heavy  team  of  1904-5  the 
best  team.  In  those  days  it  was  only  necessary 
to  make  two  or  three  yards  per  down.  The  rules 
provided  for  a  gain  of  five  yards  in  three  downs. 
It  was  almost  impossible  to  stop  one  of  the  steam- 
roller attacks,  with  only  two  yards  needed  for  a 
down,  when  properly  concentrated  in  a  short  dis- 
tance. 

On  the  defense  there  was  only  one  thing  to  do 
—hit  it  head  on.  If  the  line  attempted  to  stop 
the  attack  standing  up  it  was  bowled  over  in 
short  order. 

And  there  was  common  talk  of  foul  play  in  the 
heat  of  scrimmage.  What  with  the  increas- 
ing number  of  serious  injuries,  the  arguments 
against  the  abolishment  of  football  were  not  any 
too  feeble. 

President  Roosevelt  demanded  that  all  the  ob- 


159- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


jectionable  features  be  removed  from  the  game 
and  that  "brutality  and  foul  play  should  receive 
the  same  summary  punishment  given  to  a  man 
who  cheats  at  cards." 

"Football,"  he  continued,  "is  a  good  game  for 
young  men  and  boys  to  play,  but  unless  the  rules 
are  changed,  as  it  is  becoming  too  dangerous,  the 
game  will  have  to  be  abolished." 

And  concluding  his  remarks  to  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Big  Three  he  said:  "I  want  you  all 
to  go  back  and  use  your  influence  to  have  the 
rules  changed." 

President  Roosevelt  certainly  made  a  splendid 
contribution  to  the  game  by  throwing  his  tremen- 
dous influence  on  the  side  of  football.  After  the 
session  at  the  White  House  there  was  little  heard 
of  abolishing  the  game.  This  meeting,  in  addi- 
tion, gave  needed  impetus  to  the  claims  of  those 
who  said  the  rules  should  be  changed. 

In  those  days  Harvard,  Princeton  and  Yale 
played  a  much  more  important  part  in  football 
than  they  do  today.  They  were  then  a  Big  Three 
in  reality.  The  rules  committee  was  an  unofficial 
body  more  or  less  self-appointed  and  entirely 
dominated  by  Eastern  ideas.  They  had  become 
a  bit  too  conservative.  Today,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
1 60. 


The  Modem  Game 


football  is  national  and  no  section  of  the  country- 
is  able  to  control  its  development. 

Drastic  reforms  were  adopted  all  over  the 
country.  Following  the  close  of  the  1905  sea- 
son, a  meeting  of  representatives  of  many  lead- 
ing universities  and  colleges  was  held  in  New 
York,  in  January,  1906,  to  consider  football  and 
just  what  should  be  done  about  it.  This  meet- 
ing resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  National 
Collegiate  Athletic  Association. 

General  Palmer  E.  Pierce,  then  a  Captain  in 
the  United  States  Army  and  representing  West 
Point,  was  elected  president.  His  administra- 
tion has  been  so  successful  and  satisfactory  that 
he  is  still  the  head  of  the  organization. 

After  many  sessions,  a  joint  committee  finally 
revised  the  rules,  announcing  them  on  January 
12,  1906.   The  following  changes  were  made: 

1 —  the  number  of  yards  to  be  gained  was  in- 
creased from  five  to  ten  and  one  additional  down 
was  added. 

2 —  The  rules  were  amended  to  provide  for  the 
forward  pass  and  onside  kick  with  the  qualifica- 
tions as  to  the  pass  that  it  must  cross  the  line  of 
scrimmage  at  a  point  five  yards  from  the  center. 
A  kicked  ball  was  onside  as  soon  as  it  passed  the 
scrimmage  line. 

i6i. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


To  bring  about  a  more  open  style  of  play  the 
forward  pass  was  introduced.  Everyone  on  the 
offensive  side  was  made  eligible  to  recover  a 
kicked  ball  from  scrimage  as  son  as  it  touched 
the  ground,  and  the  playing  time  was  divided 
into  quarters,  hurdling  was  forbidden,  drawing 
back  tackles  and  guards  to  use  as  interfers  was 
stopped,  and  the  linemen  forbidden  to  inter- 
change with  back  unless  permanently  or  unless 
he  be  five  yards  behind  the  line. 

Many  different  opinions  were  blended  into  the 
revision  of  rules  by  a  most  representative  body 
which  was  composed  of  the  following  members: 
L.  M.  Dennis,  of  Cornell;  chairman;  W.  T. 
Reid,  Jr.,  of  Harvard,  secretary;  James  A.  Bab- 
bitt, of  Haverford;  John  C.  Bell,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; Walter  Camp,  of  Yale;  F.  Homer  Curtis, 
of  Texas;  representing  the  South;  Charles  D. 
Daly,  of  West  Point;  Paul  J.  Dashiell,  of  An- 
napolis; J.  B.  Fine,  of  Princeton;  E.  K.  Hall,  of 
Dartmouth;  James  T.  Lees,  of  Nebraska;  C. 
W.  Savage,  of  Oberlin;  A.  A.  Stagg,  of  Chicago, 
and  Dr.  H.  L.  Williams,  of  Minnesota, 

The  real  vice  of  the  old  game,  the  committee 
agreed,  was  the  "push  and  pull"  play.  This  rule 
was  not  touched.  It  was  contended  that  the  for- 
ward pass  and  the  onside  kick  opened  up  the 

162. 


The  Modern  Game 


game  while  the  yards  necessary  for  a  first  down 
discouraged  the  massed  plays  and  invited  the 
open  style  of  football. 

Harvard,  Princeton  and  Yale  barred  fresh- 
men from  the  varsity  team,  imposed  a  year's  resi- 
dence on  players  coming  from  other  colleges  and 
made  other  necessary  reforms.  The  Western 
Conference  also  put  through  new  rulings.  One 
year's  residence  and  a  full  year's  work  were  re- 
quired of  all  varsity  candidates,  with  the  playing 
limited  to  three  years  of  varsity  competition. 

In  the  Western  Conference  Thanksgiving 
Day  games  were  abolished  and  practice  limited 
from  the  day  school  opened.  The  training  table 
was  discarded  and  schedules  limited. 

Thus  were  the  major  changes  made  in  foot- 
ball and  the  modern  game  was  just  beyond  the 
horizon,  coming  slowly  but  surely. 

At  Princeton  we  had  never  mastered  the  art 
of  massed  plays  and  I,  for  one,  was  enthusiastic 
about  the  new  rules.  I  believed  it  would  make 
football  more  interesting  to  play  and  to  watch. 

Immediately  we  set  to  work  planning  new 
plays  to  meet  the  changed  requirements  of  the 
game,  as  I  suppose  they  did  at  every  other  insti- 
tution. The  meeting  lasted  for  three  days  with 
many  former  Princeton  players  contributing  ad- 

163. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


vice  and  suggestion  for  new  plays,  tried  out  on 
the  field  of  the  Princeton  Preparatory  school  of 
which,  Mr.  Fine,  our  representative,  on  the  Rules 
Committee  was  head-master. 

Among  those  present  were  Phil  King,  Walter 
Booth,  Martin  V.  Bergen,  Langdon  Lea,  Eddie 
Holt,  Bert  Wheeler,  and  Garrett  Cochran. 

It  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  those  present 
at  the  meeting  to  use  the  pass  and  onside  kick  as 
much  as  possible.  We  tried  different  ways  of 
forward  passing  and  finally  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  end  over  end  pass  was  best.  No 
one  suggested  the  spiral  pass.  Phil  King  urged 
the  end  over  end  pass,  citing  an  instance  in  the 
Yale-Princeton  game  of  1893  when  Doggie 
Trenchard  had  made  a  long  end  over  back- ward 
pass  across  the  field  to  King,  himself,  on  what  is 
known  as  a  "shoe-string"  play.  He  said  that 
Trenchard's  pass  had  been  thrown  with  speed 
and  accuracy. 

We  also  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  for- 
ward pass  would  not  be  successful  unless  it  was 
played  with  deception.  This  was  as  true  of  the 
pass  then  as  it  is  today.  Few,  if  any,  successful 
passes  are  made  unless  masked  so  as  to  give  the 
appearance  of  a  running  play. 

Bert  Wheeler  made  a  valuable  contribution  to 

164. 


The  Modem  Game 


the  meeting  by  suggesting  the  running  kick  and 
when  we  doubted  its  feasibility  he  went  out  on 
the  field  and  showed  us  how  it  could  be  done. 
We  finally  mapped  out  a  complete  new  set  of 
plays  under  the  new  rules  for  the  1906  season. 

I  have  always  believed  that  the  new  rules  ap- 
plied to  football  in  1906  not  only  opened  up  the 
game  but  made  all  teams  more  or  less  equal.  The 
smaller  colleges,  even,  which  were  trampled  on 
year  after  year,  turned  about  and  were  prepared 
to  put  up  a  stiff  game  and  sometimes  came  off 
the  field  a  winner. 

This  change  in  football  was  made  possible  by 
the  introduction  of  the  forward  pass;  the  most 
radical  advance  in  the  history  of  the  game.  All 
the  other  rules  were  restrictions;  tlie^pasjTwas  a 
constructive  and  sweeping  addition,  even  with 
the  lateral  limitations  with  which  it  was  hedged 
about  for  the  next  four  years.  And  with  the 
forward  pass  came  a  new  kind  of  football  king 
— the  triple  threat  man. 

Ned  Harlan,  of  the  1906  Princeton  team, 
could  run,  kick  and  pass.  He  was  superb  on  the 
running  kick  play  suggested  by  Bert  Wheeler 
which,  before  the  season  closed,  became  our 
strongest  play. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  become  head  coach 

165. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


in  1906  and  as  I  was  heartily  in  favor  of  the  new 
rules — because  after  all,  Princeton  experienced 
great  difficulty  with  the  old  massed  plays  with 
which  Yale  was  supreme — it  was  stimulating  to 
see  the  rejuvenated  Tigers  sweeping  through  the 
opposition  with  the  new  style  of  play.  We  de- 
feated Army,  Navy,  and  Cornell,  then  coached 
by  Glenn  Warner,  and  crowned  our  early  season 
record  by  swamping  Dartmouth,  42-0. 

Experimenting  with  the  forward  pass,  the 
Princeton  men  outdid  themselves.  When  the 
ball  was  hurled  toward  a  player,  he  managed, 
somehow,  to  get  it.  By  mixing  up  this  play  with 
end  runs  and  line  plays,  we  breezed  right  along 
with  nothing  to  mar  our  perfect  record  than  the 
coming  game  with  Yale. 

The  result  of  the  Yale  game  of  1906  was  a 
tremendous  disappointment.  I  expected  to  see 
our  team  win  handily  with  the  forward  pass  and 
the  tie  score  of  0-0  was,  to  me,  worse  than  a  de- 
feat. It  was  in  the  season  of  1906  that  I  learned 
my  first  important  lesson  in  coaching.  Young 
and  inexperienced,  but  full  of  enthusiasm,  I 
pushed  the  team  to  the  limit  in  every  game.  As 
a  result,  the  players  burnt  themselves  out.  Our 
defeating  Dartmouth  by  a  42-0  score  was  the 
climax  of  our  season.  From  that  day  on  we  went 

166. 


The  Modem  Game 


down  hill  rapidly  and  two  weeks  later  barely  tied 
a  mediocre  Yale  team.  I  believe  a  team  can  only 
be  at  its  peak  for  a  couple  of  games  a  season. 
If  a  coach  wants  his  team  to  go  at  top  speed  at 
the  end  of  the  season  he  must  plan  the  develop- 
ment of  his  team  accordingly. 

The  exciting  game  of  modern  football  that  we 
know  today  was  beginning  to  show  itself  as  early 
as  1907.  Princeton  led  Yale  by  a  10-0  score 
at  the  end  of  the  first  half  when  Yale  came  back 
in  the  second  half,  and  aided  by  the  superhuman 
playing  of  Ted  Coy,  and  the  use  of  the  forward 
pass,  succeeded  in  defeating  Princeton.  Up  to 
this  time  the  1907  game  was  the  most  heart-pal- 
pitating game  of  football  in  history. 

An  incident  occurred  in  this  memorable  game 
which  was  without  precedent  in  football  and 
necessitated  another  rule  in  the  book. 

There  was  no  time  limit  set  on  a  team  between 
the  halves.  It  was  customary  for  the  referee  to 
notify  the  opposing  elevens  to  come  back  on  the 
field  and  begin  the  second  half. 

But  when  the  messengers  were  sent  to  the  Yale 
dressing  rooms,  the  team  could  not  be  found. 
Up  and  down  the  field  I  walked,  while  the 
referee,  Mike  Thompson,  just  didn't  know  what 
to  do  about  it. 

167. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


The  minutes  dragged.  More  than  30,000 
people  shivered  and  mumbled  in  the  stands.  On 
the  field  the  Princeton  players  jogged  up  and 
down,  passing  and  kicking.  Every  now  and  then 
they  cast  anxious  eyes  toward  the  gates,  hoping 
to  see  the  familiar  blue  jerseys  coming  on  the 
field. 

Finally,  eight  minutes  over  the  time  limit  the 
Yale  team  sprinted  out  on  the  field.  The  coaches 
explained  that  the  referee  did  not  warn  them  that 
time  was  up,  but,  deciding  that  it  must  be,  they 
came  back  on  the  field. 

TEere  is  a  story  told  that  an  old  Yale  football 
player,  sitting  up  in  the  stands,  and  noted  for 
his  ability  in  sizing  up  an  opponent's  weakness, 
was  called  into  the  Yale  dressing  room  and  asked 
to  instruct  the  men  in  a  new  defense  and  offense 
between  the  halves.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
taken  them  out  somewhere  under  the  stands  and 
instructed  them  in  combating  our  offense  and 
gaining  through  our  defense.  It's  a  good  story, 
but  I  doubt  its  truth.  But  from  then  on  a  defi- 
nite time  is  allowed  each  team  between  the  halves. 
The  officials  are  expressly  instructed  to  notify 
each  team  three  minutes  prior  to  the  ending  of 
the  intermission,  and  if  either  team  does  not  ap- 
168. 


The  Modem  Game 


pear  within  two  minutes  after  time  is  called,  it 
is  penalized  twenty-five  yards. 

In  the  second  half  a  tremendous  change  came 
over  the  Yale  team.  One  could  tell  instantly 
that  Yale's  style  of  play  had  changed.  They 
started  out  to  score  and  never  stopped  until  the 
big  Blue  procession  ploughed  over  the  Princeton 
goal  line. 

Our  men  could  not  stop  Ted  Coy.  The  blonde 
fullback  played  as  a  man  inspired.  Around  the 
ends  he  flashed  one  minute:  the  next  his  broad 
shoulders  knifed  their  way  through  the  line  with 
several  men  hanging  on  his  neck.  Twice  the 
Yale  quarterback  called  on  Coy  to  put  the  ball 
over  on  the  fourth  down  and  twice  Coy  crashed 
through. 

Yale  scored  in  about  twelve  minutes  after  the 
second  half  started.  The  score  was  then  10-6  and 
they  battled  against  time.  We  managed  to  hold 
them  for  downs  twice  and  Harlan  punted  down 
the  field. 

But  Coy  was  still  flaming.  His  famous  "T'ell 
with  the  signals — give  me  the  ball!"  was  said  to 
be  yelled  during  his  famous  march  through  the 
Princeton  team  which  went  the  entire  length  of 
the  field  and  ended  with  the  second  and  winning 
touchdown. 


169. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


The  game  was  gradually  opening  up  and  in 
the  next  few  years  Sam  White,  with  his  gifted 
knack  of  picking  up  muddy  footballs  and  run- 
ning for  touchdowns,  as  well  as  Pumpelly's  sen- 
sational drop-kick  in  the  1912  game,  supplied  a 
diversity  of  thrills  for  the  rapidly  growing  game. 

There  was  still  further  tinkering  with  the  rules 
in  1912.  A  touchdown  was  increased  to  six 
points.  The  offensive  side  given  four  downs  and 
the  length  of  the  playing  field  changed  from  320 
to  300  feet.  The  onside  kick  was  practically 
abolished  and  the  kick-off  was  changed  from  the 
center  of  the  field  to  the  forty  yard  line.  The 
restriction  of  the  length  of  the  forward  pass  was 
removed,  and  a  kicked  ball  striking  the  ground 
did  not  put  the  kickers  side  onside  as  formerly. 

The  legislation  affecting  the  forward  pass  had 
the  most  far-reaching  influence  and  really 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  modern  forward 
passing  game. 

The  timing  of  the  pass  was  given  considerable 
attention  although  the  possibilities  in  this  respect 
were  not  fully  appreciated  until  Notre  Dame 
came  East  in  1913.  Then,  as  now,  the  Hoosiers 
had  a  cleverly  developed  pass  and  in  this  respect, 
led  football. 

In  1912-13-14-15,  Percy  Haughton's  Harvard 

170. 


The  Modern  Game 


teams  were  supreme  in  the  East.  Haughton  util- 
ized the  triple  threat  man,  deception,  and  stressed 
field  generalship. 

All  over  the  country  football  teams,  aided  by 
the  forward  pass,  the  open  game,  and  the  empha- 
sis on  strategy,  were  enjoying  an  unprecedented 
wave  of  popularity.  The  uncertainty  of  the 
games  brought  out  big  crowds.  In  1915  the 
charmed  circle  of  the  Big  Three's  football  su- 
premacy was  broken  by  the  splendid  record  of  a 
great  Cornell  team.  In  1916  Glenn  Warner's 
University  of  Pittsburgh  led  the  East  and  then 
followed  a  general  expansion  of  football  in  1917 
to  1921. 

The  smaller  colleges  of  the  West  and  South 
suddenly  came  into  the  limelight  with  powerful 
teams.  At  Georgia  Tech,  Heisman  developed 
the  Golden  Tornados  into  a  first  class  team. 
Down  in  the  blue  grass  country  of  Kentucky 
little  Center  College  with  its  hundred  or  more 
students,  surprised  the  football  world.  This 
little  band  of  footballers,  led  by  "Bo"  McMillan, 
delighted  in  bowling  over  bigger  and  stronger 
elevens  to  the  North,  South  and  East  of  Dan- 
ville, Kentucky.  In  1920,  from  the  Pacific 
Coast  came  the  news  that  Andy  Smith  former 
Pennsylvania  man,  had  developed  a  world  beat- 


171. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


ing  team  at  California.  His  Golden  Bears  were 
considered  one  of  the  finest  teams  in  the  land. 
Princeton  led  the  East.  And  the  following  year, 
the  colleges  filled  with  boys  back  from  the  battle- 
fields of  France,  from  the  training  camps  and  in- 
dustries, the  country  was  cluttered  up  with 
powerful  football  teams. 

In  1922  the  rules  were  again  changed.  A  try 
for  a  point  from  scrimmage  after  touchdown  was 
introduced.  Princeton,  with  a  supposedly  medi- 
ocre team,  but  not  lacking  in  intelligence,  speed 
and  courage,  surprised  the  football  world  by  go- 
ing through  the  season  undefeated  after  winning 
from  Chicago,  Colgate,  Yale  and  Harvard. 

Yale  had  a  wonderful  eleven  in  1923  and  easily 
won  the  Big  Three  championship.  Cornell  also 
had  a  powerful  team. 

The  place  kick-off  was  changed  from  the  forty 
yard  line  to  the  center  of  the  field  in  1924,  only 
to  be  put  back  again  in  1925. 

Notre  Dame  had  the  best  team  of  the  country 
in  1924.  This  team  travelled  10,500  miles, 
played  in  seven  states  and  in  temperatures  from 
10  degrees  above  at  Princeton  to  seventy  at 
Pasadena  on  New  Year's  day.  They  scored  close 
to  fifty  touchdowns  during  the  season. 

Dartmouth  had  one  of  the  finest  teams  in  the 


172. 


The  Modern  Game 


land  in  1925  and  Princeton  again  won  from  Yale 
and  Harvard.  In  the  last  meeting  of  the  Big 
Three  as  such,  in  1926,  Princeton  again  tri- 
umphed over  their  ancient  rivals. 

In  1925  Princeton  adopted  the  Huddle  Sys- 
ten,  used  with  success  by  Zuppke  and  several 
other  coaches  in  the  Middle  West  and  South.  It 
has  been  a  huge  success. 

When  we  adopted  the  huddle  system  the  crit- 
icism was  raised  that  it  slowed  up  the  play.  I 
asked  some  newspaper  men  to  time  the  Navy- 
Princeton  game  and  see  who  got  off  their  plays 
the  faster.  They  reported  we  averaged  about 
one  second  faster  under  the  huddle  system  than 
the  Navy,  using  the  old  system. 

The  only  defect  in  the  huddle  system  is  that 
the  quarterback  has  not  the  opportunity  to  size 
up  the  defense.  But  this  works  both  ways.  The 
advantages  of  the  huddle  more  than  balance  this 
one  defect  if  it  can  be  defined  as  such.  In  the 
system  of  signals  under  the  huddle  they  can  be 
made  simplier.  If  you  wish  you  can  merely 
designate  the  back  who  is  to  carry  the  ball. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  there  are  some  teams  who 
see  no  objection  to  trying  to  get  an  opponent's 
signals  in  advance.  A  scout  cannot  catcji  a 
signal  under  the  huddle. 


173- 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


The  noise  of  the  cheering  and  the  blare  of  the 
bands  at  a  big  game  make  it  sometimes  difficult 
to  hear  the  signals  when  they  are  called  by  the 
quarterback  from  his  position.  And  it  is  hard 
enough  to  gain  ground  against  stiff  opposition 
without  missing  the  signals. 

The  huddle  too,  offers  great  possibilities  of 
quick  change  of  formation.  This,  to  my  way  of 
thinking,  is  its  greatest  advantage.  Your  oppo- 
nents don't  know  until  just  before  the  ball  is 
snapped  what  you  are  going  to  do,  and  how  you 
are  going  to  line  up. 

Princeton  won  the  Big  Three  championship 
with  the  Huddle  System  in  1925  and  1926. 

Following  last  season,  several  new  rules  were 
adopted  and  will  be  put  into  effect  during  the 
1927  season.  Under  the  new  rules  the  possibil- 
ity of  shift  plays  has  been  curtailed  and  no  doubt 
goal  kicking  will  be  more  difficult  with  the  goal 
posts  ten  yards  back  of  the  line.  I  doubt  very 
much  that  the  lateral  pass  will  become  much  of  a 
ground  gainer,  although  it  can  be  used  with 
effect  as  a  threat. 

Under  the  new  rules  it  appears  that  the  de- 
fense has  gained  more  than  the  attack.  Earned 
touchdowns  will  become  the  order  of  the  day. 
Under  the  present  ruling  whenever  a  punt 


The  Modern  Game 


catcher  drops  a  kick,  opponents  may  recover  the 
ball  but  the  player  doing  so  cannot  run  with  it. 

In  the  past  many  teams  have  punted  most  of 
the  afternoon,  playing  for  a  break.  More  than 
one  football  game  has  been  won  by  fast  end  work  (y 
and  fumbled  punts,  converted  into  a  touchdown. 
With  this  possibility  eliminated,  one  can  expect 
a  limited  amount  of  punting.  The  tendency  will 
be  to  rush  the  ball  as  much  as  possible. 

And  with  everything  to  be  gained  and  nothing 
lost  by  dropping  a  punt,  the  receiver  will  gain  in 
confidence  and  no  doubt  many  of  them  will  come 
tearing  up  the  field  under  punts  on  a  dead  run. 
This  will  make  it  difficult  for  the  opposing  ends. 
It  is  almost  impossible  for  an  end  to  time  its 
tackle  properly  with  the  punt  catcher  on  the  run. 

The  one  place  the  lateral  pass  may  come  in 
handy  is  after  the  punt  has  been  caught.  It  is 
going  to  be  very  easy  for  the  man  catching  the 
punt  to  toss  it  backward  to  a  team  mate.  The 
linemen  charging  down  the  field  will  have  to  be 
constantly  on  the  watch  for  such  a  play. 

The  lateral  pass  can  be  placed  in  the  same  class 
as  the  short  forward  pass.  There  will  be  no  gain 
until  the  lateral  is  completed  and  then  the 
amount  of  ground  gained  will  be  questionable. 

In  the  1921  Harvard-Princeton  game  the 

175. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


Crimson  completed  several  short  passes  for  slight 
gains — the  receiver  was  always  thrown  after  he 
moved  a  few  yards — while  in  the  second  half 
Ralph  Gilroy,  the  Princeton  fullback,  inter- 
cepted two  of  these  passes  and  gained  more 
ground  than  Harvard  had  on  the  eight  com- 
pleted passes  in  the  first  half. 

The  threat  of  the  lateral  is  more  effective  than 
the  lateral  itself.  If  it  is  properly  worked  the 
ends  will  be  at  a  tremendous  disadvantage.  Here 
a  loose  man  must  always  be  covered.  Even  the 
lateral  down  field,  after  the  forward  pass  has 
been  completed,  is  a  possibility. 

A  few  years  ago  Penn  made  a  few  gains 
against  Cornell  on  a  lateral  after  a  forward  pass. 
Yale  tried  a  similar  play  against  Princeton  last 
fall,  but,  fortunately  for  us,  the  last  man  receiv- 
ing the  ball  slipped  and  fell. 

I  have  talked  with  a  good  many  coaches  and 
they  do  not  all  agree  with  me  as  to  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  lateral  pass.  Time  will  show  whether 
I  am  right  or  not. 

As  we  have  not  used  the  shift  plays  to  any  ex- 
tent in  the  East,  the  rule  providing  for  a  full  stop 
after  change  of  position  will  not  affect  us  in  this 
section.  West  Point  has  used  the  shift  more  than 
any  other  team  in  the  East. 

176. 


The  Modern  Game 


The  shift  play  has  proved  successful  because 
it  enabled  the  offensive  team  to  get  the  jump  on 
its  opponent.  It  is  always  harder  for  a  man  on 
the  defense  to  change  his  position  than  for  a  man 
on  the  attack,  who  knows  where  the  play  is  going. 

Under  the  old  rule  it  seemed  perfectly  possi- 
ble to  beat  the  ball  and  get  away  with  it.  This, 
of  course,  made  the  shift  even  more  effective. 
The  five  yard  penalty  meant  very  little.  Under 
the  new  rule,  with  the  one  second  stop  it  will  be 
impossible  to  shift  and  start  simultaneously. 

Ira  Rogers,  the  West  Virginia  coach,  has  an- 
nounced his  team  will  not  use  the  shift  this  fall. 
Rogers  learned  his  football  under  Spears,  who 
is  now  at  the  University  of  Minnesota.  Spears 
developed  the  shift  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency. 
So  an  announcement  of  this  kind  from  Rogers 
is  significant. 

Notre  Dame  has  used  the  shift  play  very  suc- 
cessfully for  the  last  few  years.  As  yet  I  have 
not  learned  just  what  Rockne  will  do.  He  is  a 
very  resourceful  coach  but  I  believe  Notre  Dame 
in  1927  will  drop  the  shift  and  come  out  with  a 
brand  new  offense. 

Football,  as  played  today,  is  one  of  the  finest 
sports  in  America.  Through  the  years  of  its  tur- 
bulent growth  the  men  interested  in  the  game 


177. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


have  eliminated  the  objectionable  features  of 
play  until  the  future  of  the  game,  with  its  200,- 
000  players  and  millions  of  supporters,  is  indeed 
rosy. 

But  football  is  not  perfect.  There  is  still  room 
for  improvement  and  criticism.  I  do  not  mean 
the  stereotyped  kind  of  criticism  acknowledged 
to  be  the  aftermath  of  every  season  and  just  as 
sure  to  come  as  the  first  snows.  Rather,  the  hon- 
est criticism  of  men  who  have  the  best  interests  of 
the  game  at  heart. 

The  two  most  objectionable  features  to  the 
modern  game  are  really  by-products  and  non- 
essentials to  the  sport  itself.  They  are  spring 
practice  and  scouting. 

Football  is  an  autumn  game.  It  is  associated 
with  cool,  crisp  days,  with  leaden  skies  and  burn- 
ing leaves.  And  it  should  be  restricted  to  the 
fall  season. 

It  is  only  fair  to  the  players  that  spring  prac- 
tice be  eliminated.  The  average  boy  of  twenty 
is  not  thinking  of  football  on  warm  spring  days. 
He  longs  to  play  baseball,  to  run,  to  pull  an  oar 
on  the  lake  or  play  tennis  or  golf.  To  have  him 
taken  away  from  his  fun — for  indeed  a  football 
man  trains  enough  during  the  season — and  be  re- 
quired to  don  a  heavy  football  suit  and  report  to 

i78. 


The  Modern  Game 


the  coaches  in  fear  and  trembling  that  if  he  does 
not  he  might  be  dropped  from  the  squad  in  the 
fall,  is  indeed  a  gross  injustice. 

Little  wonder  football  men  are  reported  from 
time  to  time  to  call  the  sport  a  grind !  It  is  not 
fair  to  the  men. 

The  most  likely  candidates  for  the  football 
team,  I  have  found,  are  men  of  pronounced  ath- 
letic ability  who  are  interested  in  more  than  one 
form  of  sport.  During  the  last  spring  I  noticed 
a  great  number  of  these  men  running  from  other 
athletic  fields,  tired  and  wearied  after  baseball, 
lacrosse,  track  and  crew,  donned  their  football 
togs  and  then  tried  to  give  their  best  to  the 
coaches. 

It  can't  be  done.  I  admired  their  stamina  and 
spirit  and  was  fully  conscious  of  the  danger  I 
submitted  the  men  to  in  the  way  of  injuries  and 
burning  themselves  out.  No  man  can  keep  up 
two  strenuous  sports  at  the  same  time  and  do  jus- 
tice to  his  college  work.  This  is  the  real  danger 
of  spring  practice. 

But  what  are  the  benefits?  Scarcely  any.  All 
a  coach  can  do  is  get  a  line  on  his  men,  encour- 
age running,  which  is  the  basis  of  modern  foot- 
ball, and  get  to  know  the  new  fellows  on  the 

179. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


squad.  There  can  be  no  organized  work  without 
taking  men  away  from  other  activities. 

Scouting  should  be  abolished.  It  destroys  in- 
itiative and  when  initiative  and  independent 
thinking  go  out  of  football  it  loses  its  greatest 
force  as  a  collegiate  game. 

As  I  see  it,  scouting  is  one  of  the  few  bad  in- 
fluences affecting  the  game  of  football  today.  It 
is  un-American  and  certainly  foreign  to  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  game  and  to  the  high  ideals  of 
sportsmanship  we  are  continually  prating  about. 
In  addition,  it  has  a  tendency  to  kill  free,  quick 
thinking  on  the  part  of  the  players — to  deaden 
their  initiative  and  individuality  and  to  encour- 
age a  "win  at  any  cost"  attitude  on  the  part  of 
players  and  coaches  which  cannot  have  anything 
but  a  demoralizing  effect. 

Today  the  life  of  a  scout  is  one  round  of  pleas- 
ure and  entertainment.  The  various  football 
managers  now  vie  with  one  another  in  extending 
courtesy  to  the  opposing  scout.  A  block  of  the 
best  tickets  in  the  stadium  is  always  at  their  dis- 
posal. Frequently  representatives  from  five  or 
six  different  colleges  are  found  parked  in  this 
section,  where  they  can  hold  more  or  less  infor- 
mal reception  and  exchange  notes  on  the  play. 

Upon  the  scouts'  return  after  the  game  a  very 
1 80. 


The  Modern  Game 


formal  typewritten  report,  resembling  the  con- 
fidential statement  of  one  of  the  best  detective 
agencies  is  prepared.  This  report  is  filed  with 
the  head  coach  and  reads  somewhat  as  follows: 
"Siwash  vs.  Eureka,  Oct.  21,  1927.  Day  clear, 
temperature  52,  crowd  approximately  50,000, 
score  20-3."  The  report  then  goes  on  to  describe 
the  play  in  the  minutest  detail,  giving  offensive 
and  defensive  formations,  individual  character- 
istics of  the  players — often  the  right  end  may 
vary  his  position  if  he  is  to  take  the  tackle  or  go 
out  for  a  pass. 

The  quarterback  may  stand  a  certain  way  on 
some  plays  and  another  way  on  others.  A  care- 
ful analysis  is  made  of  the  running  ability  of  the 
different  backs. 

Last  fall  Tad  Jones  and  I  agreed  not  to  scout 
the  other  for  our  annual  game.  The  plan  worked 
very  well.  After  the  game  several  of  the  players 
commented  on  it  and  Sturhahn,  the  great  Yale 
guard,  said:  "It  was  finer  in  every  way.  To 
play  Princeton  without  scouting  them  made  the 
game  more  enjoyable.  We  weren't  on  the  field 
two  minutes  before  we  tried  to  find  out  for  our- 
selves what  to  expect  from  Princeton.  When 
the  games  were  scouted  we  watched  for  what  we 
were  informed  would  be  likely  to  happen  and  we 

181. 


Football,  Today  and  Tomorrow 


tried  to  note  certain  personalities  of  the  team 
that  would  indicate  a  coming  play.  That  wasn't 
tried  against  Princeton. 

"We  were  out  there  for  ourselves  to  gather 
our  own  information  and  it  was  more  fun." 

My  team  was  never  more  alert  than  in  the 
Yale  game.  The  boys  had  hardly  walked  on 
the  gridiron  than  they  began  to  try  to  find  out 
what  Yale  had.  They  knew  nothing  about  Yale 
formations  and  plays,  except  that  which  they 
might  have  picked  up  from  reading  stories  of  the 
games  in  which  Yale  had  played,  and  that  in- 
formation was  pretty  well  disjointed. 

Yale  has  announced  that  it  has  agreed  with  all 
opponents  for  this  year  to  forego  scouting.  This 
is  a  move  in  the  right  direction.  There  is  a  sen- 
timent against  scouting  at  Dartmouth  and  it  will 
surely  crystallize  into  direct  opposition  to  it. 

In  my  opinion  the  universal  abolition  of  scout- 
ing is  merely  a  few  years  off.  Before  the  1927 
season  closes  there  will  be  a  more  general  tend- 
ency^ from  the  colleges  to  do  away  with  it. 
"  President  Hopkins,  of  Dartmouth,  suggested 
several  reforms  to  college  football  which  were 
answered  by  the  Athletic  Council  at  Hanover 
last  spring.   They  said  in  part : 

"We  are  unable  to  say  that  football,  with  its 

182. 


The  Modern  Game 


present  organization  and  absorbing  interest,  does 
or  does  not  occupy  too  important  a  place  among 
college  activities." 

"Yet,"  continued  the  Athletic  Council's 
spokesman,  "without  establishing  a  fictitious 
value,  we  may  not  ignore  the  real  worth  to  the 
colleges  of  the  intense  interest  that  surrounds 
this  game,  accepted  as  the  best  of  college  sports, 
providing  valuable  physical  and  character  train- 
ing for  the  players  under  competent  direction 
and,  as  stated  in  your  letter,  producing  for  the 
college  communities  certain  very  vital  values  and 
making  the  game  a  natural  rallying  ground  for 
student  and  alumni  loyalties,  incidently  produc- 
ing revenues  which  chiefly  support  the  entire 
athletic  and  recreational  program  of  the  col- 
leges." 

Enemies  of  football  and  advocates  of  its  aboli- 
tion are  few  and  negligible.  With  certain  slight 
modifications  it  will  continue,  as  it  deserves  to 
continue,  the  great  college  game.  It  is  the 
friends  of  football  who  are  concerned  about  it 
now.  They  hope  to  see  it  stripped  of  its  un- 
healthy intensity,  its  alleged  over-emphasis  and 
find  it  restricted  more  in  the  realm  of  sportsman- 


183. 


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